


A Sea Beyond the Autumnal Stars

by Lindenbay



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Romance, Explicit Sexual Content, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/F, F/M, Heian Period, Historical Fantasy, Historical Romance, Inuyasha Prequel, Morbid, Obsession, Passion, Porn With Plot, Power Dynamics, Pre-InuYasha, Tragic Romance, Unrequited Love, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:06:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27921982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lindenbay/pseuds/Lindenbay
Summary: AU : After usurping the imperial throne, the Inu no Taisho and Sesshomaru's Mother crown themselves the new emperor and empress. Years after the start of their reign over Heian Japan, an unfortunate accident leads them to cross paths with the beautiful princess Izayoi.In a misguided attempt to save her from his mate's clutches, the Inu no Taisho decides to claim Izayoi as his own concubine, sparking a hostile war of emotions between himself and his empress that turns deadly.[Inu no Taisho x Izayoi],  One-Sided [Sesshomaru's Mother x Izayoi]
Relationships: Inu no Taishou/Izayoi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	A Sea Beyond the Autumnal Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: This morbid and melodramatic monstrosity contains explicit and graphic sexual content, strong language, violence, and highly distorted, problematic situations where consent is unclear. It also has questionable scenes of emotional manipulation and mental cruelty which may be disturbing for some readers. There are no winners or happy endings here. Please use your discretion and be advised. 
> 
> Reality PSA: happy, healthy sex occurs with mutually consenting partners who are respectful of personal boundaries, understanding of their significant other’s needs, and always being mindful of each other. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi. This work does not make any monetary profits from publication and distribution.

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_Artist Credit: Unknown_

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On cold winter nights such as these, the last thing the Inu no Taisho needed was a late night visit from his empress. 

Returning to his palace after a gruelling tour along the coast, snow sprinkled down in quiet freefall as he made his way from the white stone courtyard. His footsteps barely made a sound against the fine pavements and although there was no moon tonight, his eyes could still make out the intricate scrollwork patterns. An expansive complex of multiple pavilions interconnected by numerous galleries and corridors came into his view as he ascended the marble steps up to the central hall. At his approach, its great doors swung open to reveal a long, grand walkway fashioned entirely out of gleaming white marble. 

Hundreds of glass lanterns hanging from silver chains suspended from the high ceilings lit the great hall with starlike pinpricks of light. Approaching the centre dais, he could see the demoness seated on her throne. It was twilight and she was still dressed in all her imperial regalia, looking like a glittering silver statue. Unearthly perfect in every way but in none that mattered to him. 

“Your Majesty.” She sweetly greeted. 

_What in Hell’s name is she up to this time_ , the Inu no Taisho darkly wondered. 

“How were the provinces?” 

“Troublesome.” He was careful to keep his expression neutral but did not withhold back information. “The human warrior clans are growing restless. It seems they are starting to regret supporting me and think they would have been happier with their Fujiwara emperor.” 

“Mm, and do they forget who brought back law and order? Who ensures the rice fields are being farmed and grain is regularly sent to the capital?” The demoness’s fingers traced the filigree designs on her throne’s armrest. “It seems we will need to give them a reality check, my dearest.” 

“I’d prefer more diplomatic means.” There was a sharp warning in his voice. 

“You’re such a bore.” His empress’s mood switched from threatening to playful. “Nevermind. It’s not the reason I called you here. I have something for you.” 

Sensing a trap, the Inu no Taisho inwardly prepared himself and inclined his head to indicate he was listening. 

The empress snapped her fingers. 

A contingent of palace guards appeared, carrying half a dozen stretchers upon which there were the corpses of six human girls. All young, all dressed in white nightclothes and dead. They had been recently killed but whatever had snuffed out their lives left no apparent wound or mark upon their bodies. None appeared no older than their mid-twenties, the youngest of whom might have been just sixteen, it was hard to tell. Silently, the guards set down the girls and retreated. 

The Inu no Taisho felt a growing pit of dread in his stomach. 

“This seems excessive.” He commented, pointedly looking at her. 

“My dear, you misunderstand,” the demoness’ smile widened. “ _I_ didn’t kill them. They were found like this by one of my battalions. Near a burned down mansion by the coast. They must have suffocated from smoke inhalation. No one knows exactly what happened but my men thought it’d be a shame to let fresh meat go to waste so they brought them here for us as tribute.” 

“I don’t eat humans.” 

“Precisely. Which is why I thought it’d be more useful if you were to resurrect them with Tenseiga. Then we can take them for our servants.” 

He looked down at the girls, noting their identical closed expressions that so often accompanied the dead. 

“Who are they?” 

“Oh I have no idea but who cares? Don’t they look delicious?” 

They did. One in particular had already caught his eye but he suspected the demoness had probably marked her out. 

“Have pity on them, Your Majesty. These girls deserve a second chance at life. We can give them that and so much more.” The empress coyly beseeched him as she made her intercession. “It’s been so long since I’ve had such pleasurable company.” 

“They’ll likely not want to stay.” He could see where this was going to go, as it had with so many others. Humans rarely enjoyed laying with demons and even fewer did it willingly. 

“Their consent doesn’t matter.” The empress sighed, looking rather bored. “Our wants and needs come first.” 

The Inu no Taisho’s hand reached down to his hilt where the twin swords rested. Famously, he was known to have three. So’unga was his most well known and now had the infamy of being the very weapon which he had used to slay the human emperor. Tessaiga, his default choice, was the most coveted with Tenseiga reserved for rare occasions such as this one. This last of the trio was a bit of a mystery. No one understood how it worked nor did they seem to appreciate its extraordinary ability to bring back life where Death had once stood. He remembered being surprised by this, thinking that Tenseiga’s reputation would supersede the other two for that power alone. All anyone seemed to care about were the other two for their matchless power. 

With practiced ease, he held the celestial blade over the bodies. 

The empress watched as the silver line of Tenseiga swept across each and every girl. Moments later, they stirred from their pallets and sat up, all with wide-eyed frightened expressions and blood rushing back to their cheeks. When the resurrection was complete, they cried out to each other and immediately huddled like waterdrops coalescing into a puddle. Reaching for one another, they all held hands, cowering in fear. 

“Now, now, girls, you’re safe.” The demoness murmured and surveyed them predatorily from the security of her throne. “You are at the nine-fold palace. Or should I say, what we rebuilt from the old one.”

“...you’re the new empress?” One of the girls dared to ask even though her voice came out to no more than whisper. 

“His Majesty and I were kind enough to restore your lives to you. In exchange, I would like you to stay here and consider it your new home.” 

Startled, they all turned to look at the emperor, each of their faces mirroring back equal measures of terror. They had heard of this beast, the Inu no Taisho of the west who had waged war against the former human emperor. He had slaughtered his way across the island and when he reached the very steps of the nine-fold palace, the rumor was he beheaded the emperor himself. Not even the rest of the imperial family had been spared. Nearly all the nobility was massacred by his troops along with any retainers who dared to challenge the demons. As if to drive their point home of total conquest, they set fire to all the pavilions and had the whole structure burnt down then rebuilt an entirely new complex on top of its ashes. That had been almost three years ago and whether things were better now than before, people felt it was still too soon to tell. Demon rule in a mortal realm was novelty for all. 

“Would we be your servants, Your Majesties?” Another girl spoke up. 

“Of a sort.” The empress’s smile was cold and the Inu no Taisho regretted sparing the girls. Perhaps it would have been better if they had remained in the land of the dead instead of being forcibly brought back to the world of the living. 

“You’ll attend to me in my bedroom.”

It was clear from the empress’s tone that she did not mean this to be the usual household duties of cleaning and tidying. The implication not lost on any of them, the girls started to tear up. 

“Now then!” She clasped her hands together, ignoring their apparent distress and the Inu no Taisho’s deep chagrin. “Which one of you is the youngest?” 

It was then that the first girl who had spoken shakily rose from her place. Letting go of the others’ hands, she straightened herself. She was not very tall, though gracefully slender, and beneath the starlike lamplights, her beauty was now all the more apparent. Her features were delicate, her eyes expressive and dark. Her hair fell down her back like gleaming black silk and although she was dressed in nothing but a shift, she kept her composure even as she looked upon the face of her would-be murderers. 

“Your Majesty,” the girl entreated to the empress first, “I am not the youngest but the most senior and as such, let me be your only attendant. I will do anything you ask of me if you would let the others go.” 

She then turned to the Inu no Taisho, respectfully acknowledging him before imploring the same from him. 

“I thank you for saving my life and that of my retinue, Your Majesty.” She lowered her eyes in gratitude. “If it pleases you and the empress, in exchange for their lives, I am begging you to take me instead. They are innocent and good, honest people who did nothing to deserve ill-treatment.” 

The other girls trembled and some whimpered in protest at their lady’s request. 

“Oh, so _you_ are their mistress?” The demoness looked most intrigued by this unexpected revelation. 

“I am, yes, Your Majesty.” She looked down at the floor. “My father was a Fujiwara prince.” 

“Which would make you a hereditary princess.” The demoness pointed out. “Are you aware that your home was destroyed in a fire?” 

“...I remember.” The girl’s eyes glistened with tears but she did not cry nor did she elaborate any further as to the cause of the fire or the circumstances that led up to it. 

“If I were to send your women away, where would they go then?” 

The girl bit her lip, betraying a veneer of nervousness. “...if Your Majesty is willing to oblige and can assure me of their safety, then I’d like them to be under the palace’s protection instead.” She said after some thought. 

“You make many demands for someone with no position or standing.” The empress grinned, causing some embarrassment to the girl. “What is your name, my child?” 

“Izayoi.”

The empress leaned back in her high seat with a sigh. “Well, Izayoi, by the terms of your proposal, you are suggesting you are worth all five girls put together.” 

“Material worth, Your Majesty, cannot be ascribed to a life. As mortals, ours especially must seem so small and fleeting to you but it is nonetheless precious to us. We are well aware how brief our time is on this plane which is why we cherish what we have all the more.” 

Both the emperor and empress interests were piqued. To look at Izayoi brought up a kind of emotion that neither could quite explain. It was the same feeling evoked by gazing at a clamber of lush garden roses or viewing the sea on a clear summer day. 

The demoness rested her temple against her hand and blinked slowly as if falling out of a momentary spell. But before she could say anything else, the Inu no Taisho strode forward. 

“If we grant your request,” his voice echoed in the hall, “you’ll be beholden to the palace for the rest of your life.” 

Izayoi gazed after him with a most sorrowful expression, as if to remind him of her humanity and she had only the years left to her. Whatever that may be. 

“You have my word.” Her promise drifted into the darkness. 

“Done.” 

The Inu no Taisho had barely turned before the palace guards came out of the shadows and with little difficulty, they began to take the girls away from Izayoi. Sent into a massive panic, they screamed as they clutched to each other, crying out for their princess in desperation before they were grabbed by their waists then hauled away. 

Izayoi, horrified by their sudden exit, trembled in fear and confusion. “Where are you taking them?” 

“They’ll remain here. Unharmed. As for you,” he said, to the surprise of both the demoness and the woman, “before you serve the empress, you will attend me first.” 

The demoness rose from her throne, outraged, while the mortal princess grew pale. 

“That’s final.” The Inu no Taisho did not even deign to look at his empress. She could pout and stamp her feet all she liked but at the end of the day, the palace still followed the old ways. An emperor’s word was law and trumped an empress’s. 

His eyes then flickered over and settled on Izayoi. There was nothing in his ambered gaze that suggested any sympathy for her plight and she nearly swayed on the spot when she realized it. 

“You will do as I command.” His voice pierced her heart and she felt a desperate terror rise within her. 

Tonight and perhaps for all nights to come would be his. 

Whether she wanted it to be or not was no longer up to her. It was only then that the loss of her freedom and choice really hit her. And what despair she felt! Her body had known the touch of man but a demon’s? Could it even withstand that transgression? But then she thought of her friends, five helpless girls whose very lives depended upon her total submission as well as the honor of her word. 

The weight of their bodies seemed to rest on her shoulders and as if buckling under it, the princess knelt before the emperor and empress, in silent but complete acquiescence to their will. 

  
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When Izayoi was brought into the Inu no Taisho’s rooms, the first thing his attendants did was push her into the enormous privy chamber where they stripped her naked and bathed her within the inch of her life. After they scrubbed her from head to toe, they slathered warm honey all over her, even between her legs, then meticulously waxed her entire body much to her surprise and deep shock. Her long black hair was expertly combed and loosely braided at the back so it wouldn’t trail on the floor. Sprinkling jasmine water on her skin for scent, the final touch was swathing her in a finely embroidered nightrobe. 

By the time she was ready, it was almost dawn and when they guided her back to the main rooms, they shut her inside without another word then called it a night. 

Deeply nervous, she tugged at a strand of her wet hair as she took in her new surroundings. These were the emperor’s personal chambers. What struck her was not its expansive spaces but the splendid views to which all of his windows looked out to and the spartan furnishings. In her periphery, she thought she saw a private study with shelves lined with bound books and scrolls. There was a writing desk, some chairs, and candles lit everywhere. The rest of the floorplan was divided by simple partitions and screens, just like her own rooms had been laid out at home. 

Then there was the bed. 

She looked at it with deep trepidation. Could things get any worse than this? A bed was supposed to be a place of rest but it might as well have been her grave. 

Summoning what little courage was left within her, Izayoi timidly got in and slipped under the sheets, finding them surprisingly warm and soft. 

Then she waited with bated breath. 

Her feet curled up while her hands anxiously kept brushing the brocade coverlet. Occasionally she shifted her position, turning her head from side to side. The minutes ticked away as the sky turned grey from pitch black. The adrenaline rush from earlier faded, leaving her exhausted and slowly, gradually, she fell asleep. 

Those few precious hours of sleep in which her mind was immersed in a restful blank would be the only rest she was able to get. 

When she awoke to a sudden dip in the bed followed by a heavy weight, her eyes flew open to see the emperor lying next to her in his dressing gown. Her heart rose to a frantic pace. Had he been there this whole time? 

“Your Majesty, forgive me. I should have stayed awake for you.” She immediately apologized at once, all the while wondering what punishment would await her for that mistake alone. 

He did not say anything and merely looked at her with a kind of detached amusement which she failed to comprehend. What on earth was funny about this situation? 

“Is there…” She did not dare return his gaze. “Is there something I can do for you?” 

The offer hung in the air between them, dangling on a string and slowly spinning from the gravity of her words. 

Finally, he spoke. 

“Your nightgown.” It was more of a comment rather than an order. 

Involuntarily, her hands flew up to chest. This flimsy piece of fabric was all she had left in preserving her body from the inevitable. What a sad, useless armor it was. Without thinking, she prayed desperately to the gods that whatever happened next would be quick and she would come out of the ordeal alive, with minimal damage. 

But his next remark threw her off completely. 

“If you don’t want the empress to touch you, she has to think we’re sleeping together.” The Inu no Taisho said matter-of-factly. “In order to do that, you’ll need to stay in my chambers and act as my mistress for the foreseeable future until she is distracted by something else. By then, it’ll be easier for you and your girls to slip away.” 

She stared at him, not knowing what to do or say. 

“The empress has a sharp nose like I do so we have to make this convincing as much as possible.” He continued. “Which is why I need you to remove your clothes.” 

She must have looked terrified because he reached over to take her hand in his. For the first time since she awoke at the palace, she looked into his eyes and was startled to find a kindness that hadn’t been there before. 

“My scent has to cover your entire body. It’s the surest way to make her believe I’ve made you mine.” 

This had to be some kind of a joke. She blinked uncomprehendingly and when she saw that he was quite serious, she still couldn’t believe it. 

“Your Majesty, I’m not quite sure I understand you.” She cautiously ventured. “I think, if I am hearing this right, you are helping me.” 

“Yes.” 

“Well…” Izayoi felt as though she was skating near dangerous territory. “....why would you?” 

Indeed, she hadn’t failed to see his proposed solution was clearly a roundabout way but she was at a loss as to why he would choose such a route when there were so many glaringly obvious ones. He could simply let her and the others go. 

“You’re mistaken.” The gentle smirk on his face set her anxiety off and any reassurance she felt a moment ago evaporated on the spot. “I’m not helping you. I just don’t like seeing beautiful things get destroyed. It’s wasteful.” 

As though to illustrate his point, his hand reached over and interwove a few strands of her hair in between her fingers before letting them slip away. 

“You could have freed us all.” She whispered, not understanding why he was being cruel. 

“Then my empress would go to any province and take another clutch of girls as hostage for recompense. Maybe even more. Do you think that’s fair? Would your conscience allow for other humans to suffer even a worse fate than you and your women?” 

He waited for her to reply and could tell she hadn’t weighed this possibility before. Her cheek flushed in remorse and when she raised her eyes to him again, she didn’t seem to know where to look or turn to. Hours ago, she seemed so sure of her decision and now looked helplessly lost. 

Izayoi swallowed hard. “I don’t know why you have to hide from Her Majesty. Are you not the emperor, my lord?” _Are you not powerful enough?_ That was what she really wanted to ask him but didn’t dare.

“Half of our troops come from her clan and owe their allegiance to her. They follow me not only for who I am but because she is my mate and my son’s mother.” He laid out all his cards plainly for her to see and understand. “I couldn’t have won or kept the kingdom without her resources. So I need to take care not to piss her off too much otherwise it’ll be a bloodbath and the realm needs stability. For my son’s sake, I’d also prefer not to kill her either. Although if it ever came down to that, she and I both know who would win.” 

Izayoi stared at him forlornly and felt a measure of horror that he could contemplate such a thing to the mother of his own child. “...do you not love her?” 

“Love had very little to do with how we came to be.”

The way he answered her inspired a newfound sadness, if not a strange kind of pity, for the Inu no Taisho. Marriages of disproportionate affections were constantly made for reasons of state and necessity but the idealist in her was depressed by the reality that not even an emperor was spared such unhappiness. 

“Take off all of your clothes.” He said. 

Lowering her eyes, her hands started to shake in nervousness but she did nothing. As her hesitation wore on, she thought in half hearted hopefulness that perhaps he was going to change his mind. Instead, she saw his shadow cross over to her side of the bed and felt heat radiating off his body as he drew close to her. Never taking his eyes away from her, his hand went down and undid the sash holding her robe together in two swift tugs. Sliding the rest of it away from her, he pushed it aside and was now face to face with her nakedness. 

Her heart leapt in her throat and unable to withstand his gaze, she self-consciously pulled up the nearest blanket to cover up her chest. 

He cynically smiled as she turned away as he unfastened his own robes. When he was done, she almost expected him to pull her close or maybe force her into an embrace but instead he simply laid himself down but not before drawing the rest of the coverlets over them both. 

Then not a moment later, she heard his breathing go very soft in deep sleep. 

_He’s not going to touch me._ She realized and for a second, as brief as it was, for the first time since she entered this strange place, she felt like she could actually breathe again. 

_He didn’t say anything._

Which was no issue at all…

...except...

_He didn’t say_ anything . 

She glanced at the Inu no Taisho’s long silhouette beside her and felt a surge of very complicated emotions in which both vanity, incredulity, and relief were all mixed in one. Shifting to her side, she hugged herself as she stared at the wall across from her, trying to sort herself out. There were many things to be grateful for tonight. Her friends were safe. She herself was still unscathed. Most of all, they were alive. 

And that, Izayoi thought as she closed her eyes, should surpass her wounded pride in recognizing that the Inu no Taisho did not find her desirable in the least. 

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_Tap._

The empress laid out a black stone along the grids of the wooden board and awaited the emperor’s move. They sat across from one another at a low table and in the candlelit splendor of the empress’s private rooms, the imperial couple was surrounded by palatial luxury and every creature comfort the world had to offer. Marble floors, mahogany furniture, damask-covered walls, and porcelain vases etched with fine scenery. Only a few paneled doors away, the empress’s latest conquest lied in her sumptuous, canopied bed in exhausted but happy repose. A dazzlingly pretty blue-eyed siren, who had swam up from the depths of the palace lake and stepped onto land for the night to answer Her Majesty’s call. 

Sadly, _not_ the human princess, but the siren had been attractive enough and her enthusiastic energy seemed to make up for more than the loss. 

It was a quiet evening, in all respects. Their diviners often chose times when they thought the weather would be most calm and all conditions looked favorable for conceiving an heir. Then they would alert both households and await the imperial couple to exercise their conjugal rights on the auspicious dates. 

This was all for naught as it had been centuries since the emperor and empress shared the same bed. But having agreed to following the imperial customs when they usurped the crowns, they played along, presenting a united front in the day and sharing each other's company at night. It wasn’t all the time. Neither had patience nor the want for regular contact but to keep appearances, they settled for the occasional recreation. Archery. Hunting. Reading, if the empress felt like it as she preferred being in the outdoors. Games like _go_ or _shogi_. Maybe a long walk around the grounds. 

But there would be no more children nor princes and princesses to accompany the crown prince. The gods, it seemed, had destined for him to be an only child. 

This of course threw the matter of succession into harsh light. Their advisers warned them it would simply not do to have _one_. A harem was necessary, they argued. Even the previous emperor had numerous concubines like many of his forebears. They tried to set one up for the Inu no Taisho and amassed an impressive collection of willing, nubile demonesses for him to select from. Some even offered up their own daughters. 

The empress, however, was deeply insulted this accommodation was made only for her co-ruler and demanded to be provided for in the same way. 

So the palace now had two harems, each individually dedicated to Their Majesties although only one was active. Whereas the empress called on hers daily, the emperor almost never did with his. The empress’s lovers privately complained about being overused but the emperor’s concubines were grossly offended at his lack of attention. Eventually, he did ask for someone, which caused major excitement and envy when it happened. At daybreak, when the chosen favorite returned to the harem compound, practically limping, her fellow concubines went wild with jealousy and interrogated her for details. 

What positions did they do? How many times? When? Did they achieve a good climax? What was he like? 

_He’s selfish in the best possible way,_ was the top-rated comment. Along with further lyrical descriptions of his amazing body and sex drive. How even more beautiful he was naked than fully clothed. 

_But he’s an odd one,_ the concubine mentioned in passing to the others, _he kept trying to talk to me beforehand. I didn’t know what to say to him at all. It’s a pity he’s so boring in person. But utterly delightful in bed!_

“Your turn, my dear.” The empress lazily reminded the Inu no Taisho. 

He was mulling over a half drunk glass of rice wine and though his gaze was on the game, his mind was elsewhere. 

“Do you forfeit?” 

The emperor did not even bother to answer and briefly turning to the board, he slid a white stone into the next open grid. 

“Hm. Well I guess you win that area.” The empress dryly commented. “But…” she triumphantly put down another black. “...you missed this. Your loss, I’m afraid. That wasn’t your best move. Like taking that princess, for instance.” 

“Why do you even care? You already found a plaything to fuck with anyway.” The emperor took a deep swig from his cup. 

The empress shrugged to feign indifference. “They say humans can be quite fun in bed. I wanted to test the theory for myself and see if it was true or not.” 

“She won’t have you.” The emperor grinned over his drink. 

“You seem absurdly confident.” The empress’s smile did not reach her startlingly chromatic eyes. “Yet you lost this round.” 

“From what I can tell, I don’t think Izayoi has the same...tastes...as you do.” The Inu no Taisho said at last. “You’ll be in for a grave disappointment.” 

“I’m very good at convincing many that my ‘tastes’ as you call them are equally theirs.” The empress leaned back in her chair. “By the way, I heard from our son. It seems he is now on the continent. He asked how you were.” 

The Inu no Taisho merely gave a polite nod, even though he knew full well Sesshomaru was not the type to inquire after other people’s welfare. 

“You must miss him.” He tepidly offered. 

“Certainly more than you do.” The empress was now admiring her reflection in one of the standing, gilded mirrors in the room. “Although I find him rather tiresome these days. He prattles on and on about wanting to be a great demon lord or something along those lines. I always forget what point he’s trying to make. You know how he talks.”

_Just like his mother,_ the Inu no Taisho grimly noted as his empress returned her full attention to him. 

“Well, when you finish with the girl, give her to me to try on for size. Everyone knows I give far better oral than you do anyway.” The demoness’ eyes saucily flickered over to him. “I could give her such satisfaction and make her sleep like a baby every night. Would you like to come to my rooms to see proof?” 

The emperor set down his drink. 

“She’s mine.” His eyes were cool, looking more amber than gold as they took on a hardened and determined expression. 

“For now.” The empress challenged.

And as if to display how wild and petty her vindication was veering towards, with her bare fingertips, she sent the board and its pieces flying down to the ground beneath them. 

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Days went by. 

Then weeks. Months. 

Winter receded into spring then warmed into a brilliant summer. The skies were so blue it was like looking at another sea in the place of the heavens. All the palace gardens burst into heady blooms and blanketed the grasses with innumerable petals from kerria roses, bellflowers, and the last of the camellias. Servants opened up all the galleries and windows to the pavilions to catch as many breezes as possible so their illustrious residents could stay cool. 

All the while, Izayoi remained enclosed on the grounds and returned every night to the emperor’s compound where she learned to dutifully get into his bed, naked, yet went untouched. 

By then, it had become routine and while she was grateful nothing happened, there were admittedly times when she started to wonder what it would have been like if something did. 

They slept on opposite sides, neither ever crossing the invisible line between them despite sharing blankets and the same intimate space. Once or twice, she caught his arm thrown across the sheets, his fingers barely skimming her shoulders. A few times, she woke up to find him gone but all of his coverlets courteously placed on top of her own so she wouldn’t get cold. 

One of the hardest things Izayoi had to get used to was being around the Inu no Taisho all the time. In the beginning, she felt awkward as she did not know what her place was. She assumed she had been downgraded as his servant and at first tried to set herself to work as such but the staff wouldn’t let her. Instead, they treated her with every civility due to a princess. Although she wasn’t expected to do anything, she chose to manage the emperor’s pavilions and helped ready the rooms everyday upon his return. 

Conversation was not easy. The emperor’s nature was reserved and it often fell upon her to initiate but slowly, gradually, they began to know each other even if it was through fits-and-starts. 

One of the first things he did, that cemented Izayoi’s gratitude, was to restore her friends to her. He watched from afar as he beheld their happy, teary-eyed reunion and noticed how close they all seemed despite their marked difference in rank. The princess treated her maidservants like they were her younger sisters and they in turn, appeared to adore her. Their interactions were akin to close friends rather than a coterie of staff waiting on her hand and foot. 

It wasn’t just that either. They loved her. 

It didn't take him long to figure out why they did as he began to understand who she was. 

Although Izayoi never spoke of it, he could tell she had suffered. From what, he couldn’t gather, but instead of breaking her, it had tempered her with steel and quiet determination. There was a genuine loveliness about her not just in body but character. She had known so much loss yet always had a smile on her countenance, seemingly embracing both the miseries and splendors of life. A windblown flower delighted her more than jewels and silks. The pain of others, no matter how small, concerned her and she took it upon herself to make them smile again. She freely extended that compassion even to him, which perplexed him to no end, as did her unwavering trust in friendship and kindness. 

Why did she choose to place her faith in things that did not last? He wondered. 

This mystery she was building around him was tantazaling, if not dangerous. 

Once, she made him unexpectedly laugh when he caught her replanting some flowers in an adjacent garden and saw she was covered head-to-toe in dirt. 

Another time, when he returned to his rooms, she had somehow prepared his favorite meal (how she knew, he had no idea) and kindly laid out his robes for the next day. 

When they talked, he was surprised to learn she had deeply scholastic interests as he did and could speak with authority on all the classics. They discussed histories and philosophies, trading opinions and thoughts. He taught her how to shoot a bow in the palace courtyard. She played the koto for him, selecting airy melodies from the distant past. 

He started to notice things like when Izayoi was nervous, she twisted her hair around her finger and that she didn’t eat meat which she often picked at with her chopsticks during the occasional dinner they shared. His own habits had not gone unnoticed by her and in time, through studied observation, she understood his preferences and moods. 

But for all their growing closeness, neither ever spoke of the empress nor the circumstances concerning Izayoi’s prior death. 

Since the first night, she did not ask him about his empress and he did not broach the subject of how she and the girls had perished. 

For reasons left unsaid, they chose to ignore the answers to both even as it lingered in the air between them like trailing smoke from a blown candle. Perhaps they could have continued on in that way, content in their wilful ignorance. 

Until, that is, when the empress finally caught on what was happening. 

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One afternoon, when the empress knew the Inu no Taisho would not be at the palace, she summoned Izayoi to see her. 

When Izayoi arrived at the complex, she came so modestly dressed that she looked no more glamorous than a kitchen drab. 

“Oh no, this won’t do at all.” The empress sighed in annoyance when she saw the princess. Snapping her fingers and ignoring Izayoi’s bewildered protestations, she had her ladies-in-waiting take off the girl’s dress right in front of her. It did not take very long since summer robes tended to have far less layers and when the last smallclothes were pulled away, much to the princess’s horrified mortification, the empress waved away all her women then walked over to her for a closer inspection. 

Lovely. 

The word came to the empress’s mind as she circled the girl’s naked body, noting the charming way the girl clutched at her beautifully shaped breasts while she stood humiliatingly exposed. Her long dark hair hid her backside but from the silhouette alone, the empress could see it was delightful. Everything about her form was so heartbreakingly pretty. Was it any wonder why the emperor had to make a preemptive strike and claim this creature for himself first? 

_Tōga, you selfish bastard._ The empress narrowed her eyes at the thought of her mate. His possession of this human was yet another prime example of his greed and wanton insensitivity. His scent was everywhere on the girl. Her hair, shoulders, neck, and chest. Even her legs. 

How infuriating. 

“Come closer, dearest.” The empress beckoned. 

Izayoi, shivering from the cold and close to tears, refused. 

“I said, _come._ ” The empress none too gently seized her by the wrist, jerking the girl to her. How soft and pliant her flesh was. Her skin too...the empress leant forward to breathe it in. Divinity itself. Ignoring Izayoi’s _no_ and _please,_ her hand trailed down the girl’s body. When she reached the place between her legs, she did not push in but merely glided the edge of her fingers along the tightly shut folds then brought it to her lips for a brief taste. 

“You haven’t borne any children but you’re no virgin. You’ve been with a man before.” The empress accurately observed as she studied the subtle flavor on her tongue. “But what of a woman?” 

Izayoi’s lips parted in startled confusion. “I...I don’t know what you mean.” 

Now with a surprising level of tenderness, the empress cupped her tear-stained cheek with the palm of her hand and drew her close. 

“When the emperor is finished with you,” she murmured, “and he _will_ tire of you, just like all the others from before, be comforted in the knowledge that I would never abandon you so thoughtlessly.”

The empress’s golden eyes flickered down to Izayoi’s breasts. 

“The servants tell me my mate keeps you in his bed but…” her lips leaned in as her honeyed words sent the princess into the throes of panic. “....I know he hasn’t taken you. _I can smell it._ ” She refused to let Izayoi go and looked down at her from her much taller height. “You should be happy about that. His idea of pleasure is mindless. Mine, on the other hand is infinitely more than what you’d ever get from him...”

She kissed her on the mouth, finding the princess as warm and sweet as she imagined then broke away laughing as Izayoi wrenched herself free. 

Tilitated by the girl’s fear as she clumsily gathered her discarded clothes about her, the empress dismissed Izayoi with a beguiling smile. 

“Go, dearest.” She said softly. “I won’t force myself on you. That isn’t my style. But you will do well to remember that in the end, you will return to me and _be glad of it._ ” 

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When Izayoi stumbled back into the emperor’s rooms, she unexpectedly came upon the Inu no Taisho. Seeing him standing there, she fell on her knees, half naked, and no longer having any more strength to get up after the indignity she just endured. 

He knelt down and grasping her shoulders, he forced her to look at him. “What happened?” His voice was low and controlled. 

“She knows.” Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. “She knows, Your Majesty.” 

In halting sentences, she explained to him what occurred in the empress’s chambers and when she finished, he helped her rise to her feet. 

“There’s no need for you to panic. I’ll deal with this.” 

Izayoi shook her head in real sorrow. “I have to go to her eventually. Otherwise my servants’ lives are at risk, you know that. You didn’t see her. She’s very determined.” 

“So am I.” The emperor gave a wintry smile. 

That was when she did the unthinkable. Or rather, she felt the time had now come to pass where she had no other options left. One thing was clear. No matter what assurances she had been given by the empress, she did not wish to go to her. 

“Then I want you to do it.” Izayoi whispered. She didn’t think she could have ever been so bold. 

Neither did he. For a fraction of a moment, his face registered mild surprise before it quickly receded to his usual impassiveness. 

The dragging silence between them filled her with dread. It occurred to her that he would refuse. After all, she had been sleeping naked next to him for months and he had never touched her. Not once. She had seen the way he regarded her body with little more than mild interest but it was neither lust nor want. She was inexperienced but knew enough when a man desired her as well as when he didn’t. 

_He’s going to say no,_ it dawned on her as the minutes ticked away with no reply forthcoming. As though she hadn’t been ridiculed enough today, now she would have to reckon with the emperor’s total rejection and somehow reconcile herself to the fact she would be relegated to the empress. 

“Forgive me, I shouldn’t have said anything.” Izayoi tried to step away from what she thought was a massive blunder when the Inu no Taisho seized her wrist to stop her in her tracks. 

“Is this what you really want?” He finally asked her. 

“I have little choice.” She almost wanted to cry upon admitting her helplessness. It was unbearable. 

“You’d rather sleep with me than to do anything with the empress.” He assessed. “Why? Do you find her as distasteful as I do or is it because you don’t share her predilections?” 

“I…” A myriad of emotions passed over her lovely face. Utter perplexity. There was sadness there, too, and much confusion. But not a trace of hatred or anything to suggest that she held some vindictive streak against his mate. 

“Well?” 

“I’ve only been with men. A man.” Izayoi flushed. “I know nothing else.” 

“Was it your husband?” 

“Please don’t ask me. I beg you.” 

“So, you were married. Once.” The emperor noted how pale she looked at the mention of her unknown spouse and the way her jaw tightened. Her expression was not the look of a woman in love with her nameless husband. What’s more, there was something about the man that frightened her. Maybe he used to beat her. The Inu no Taisho was well aware of how human men treated their mates and that it wasn’t uncommon for them to hit their wives for perceived faults. Had the same happened to this princess? 

“Know this, Izayoi,” he warned her, “the empress and I are the same in one regard. We do not like sharing. Whatever we want to possess, we do so completely.” 

_Possess?_

“I am a _human being_.” She whispered. 

“And we are demons.” He answered her. “This is our nature.” 

“But I thought...” Her gaze went downward. “...I thought you didn’t want me. Not in that way.” 

“I was merely waiting to see what you would do.” And here, his expression evinced a measure of disappointment. “You are more fearful of the empress than you are in desiring me.” 

It took Izayoi a very long, hard moment to get at his meaning and when she finally understood, the epiphany brought on an even greater shock. All this time. Every night. Every _day._ When had it started? Why hadn’t he _said anything?_ How was she supposed to have known if he kept silent? She reran all the past months in her head, frantically trying to figure out what she had missed. A prolonged glance, a lingering touch of the hand perhaps. Oh, why was her mind acting so sluggish…

Then before she had a chance to reply, he pulled her to him. 

Slowly, deliberately, he bent his head down. 

“It doesn’t matter. If that’s all you have to give, I’d rather take it than have nothing.”

Then he kissed her. 

It was not light, sweet, or even gentle. Whatever restraint he had shown thus far now vanished swiftly. He tipped her head as his mouth ran over hers, with savage violence and ruthless selfishness. Struggling to keep pace with him, Izayoi tried to pause or break away to get in a breath but he would not let her. She stumbled as she felt him guide her in a dizzying walk towards the bed and as she fell flat on her back, she heard the sound of fabric being ripped apart as his claws tore the last of her robes away. 

Pressing his knee into the mattress, he lowered himself on top of her as he started at the neck, nipping at the skin there then reaching for her breasts with both of his hands. Circling his palms around them, he felt their delicious weight and reveled in their plushness as he squeezed then traced the poppy-dark nipples with his fingers in the lightest possible strokes. Her hands pushed at his chest and she gave a stifled gasp, twisting her face away from his. When his tongue trailed down along her midline, a curious low roar blocked out her hearing as she became still. 

Then without warning, he grabbed her shoulders and forced her to sit up. 

“Get on your knees.” 

Without waiting for her to comply on her own, he dragged her to the edge of the bed then had her kneel on the ground. Untying the front of his robes, his member slipped free and exposed as he stood over her. 

Combing his hand into her hair, he roughly brought her face to his groin then holding himself by the base, he guided the tip into her mouth. The moment it touched her warm tongue, his eyes glazed over and he pushed the rest of himself in. At first she choked on the shaft, unused to the act and barely able to take him even halfway. He pulled back but not before reaching down to forcibly open her jaw wide and have her mouth cover him again. Her tongue lay flat along his underside and he felt her lips move as she tried to cushion her teeth away from his skin and move with him as much as she was able. 

His knuckles whitened as he fisted his hand around her black tresses and sharply thrusted in, causing her to softly croak against him. Mesmerized by the sight of her bent in supplication with his cock going in and out of her mouth, he lunged in. She closed her eyes shut as she felt his pushes, feeling her chin go wet with spit as he worked himself deeper with hard, rhythmic movements. Once, twice, he went so far she gagged as her nose pressed close to his balls. Pulling away, she spat him out, trembling and trying to regain her breathing before he reached down again to shove himself back in her mouth. 

A few times, Izayoi dared to look up to get a glimpse of his face. His eyes were half-closed, their lids fluttering ever so languidly as the barest sigh escaped his lips. The naked lust of his expression was so visible, it was intoxicating to see. To _know_ she was causing the emperor to be this way. The rest of his robes were slipping away, revealing a cutting figure. There was such harmony in proportion and beauty wrought in each taut muscle that Nature must have spent great care in molding him in the flesh. With a trembling hand, she laid it on his thigh, grazing her fingertips on a light scar barely visible in the trunk. Had this come from an arrow? A spear? How many wounds had this battle-tested body sustained? 

He suddenly groaned, tugging at her hair as he grasped her face to his crotch, coercing her to completely envelop him. 

Mistakenly thinking he came, she thought she would die from suffocation but he withdrew, sending down trails of her saliva in his wake that splattered on the floor. He took her by the shoulders again, bidding her to rise then pushed her back on the bed before he got on top of her. Her hair sprawled around her in a black heap as she hit the mattress. Shaken and hastily wiping her mouth with a sweep of her hand, she felt her legs being spread open and him crawling on top of her. 

Holding her down with the sheer force of his weight and by the throat, he palmed himself a few times before sinking into her. 

Involuntarily, her back arched in response. 

Crying aloud, she gripped whatever part of the bed she could hold on to and turned her head into the mattress, winded. 

It was true that Izayoi was no longer a virgin but it had been so long since a man had slept with her. But being with His Majesty like this now made her feel as if she was a first-time bride all over again, thrown into another initiation of a marriage bed even though it was anything but. 

“Relax.” He rasped in her ear. “You have to relax otherwise it’s only going to hurt you more.” 

“I can’t…I can’t...you’re... _oh…!_ ” She gasped as he curved his hips towards hers and she turned breathless by girth, unable to handle the length. He would break her from within, surely. He was so much stronger, taller than her. She couldn’t go possibly any further than this. 

“You can take it.” His voice was rough and uncompromising but he leaned down to kiss her temple, keeping his hand around her neck. 

She moaned in protest as he gave another hard thrust and felt his tip skim the neck of her womb, causing her to wince in pain. Bending over her, he quickened into a vicious pace. She clung to him, her senses assaulted and overwhelmed by everything happening all around her. The sheets felt slippery on her skin, his body was searingly hot, his breaths were coming out in short exerted puffs against her collarbone, and his jolting motions between her legs were pushing her ever so close. Senseless, her hands acted on their own accord, sliding over to cross over his lower hips and drawing him in deeper. 

It was as if he was trying to drive her into the earth itself. 

She gripped the back of his neck and when she drew heated kisses on the skin, his pulse quickened beneath her lips. His mouth clipped at her right breast, her jaw, then came to rest on hers in a sweeping kiss. Their tongues slid along each other’s, one full of hunger, the other of surprised discovery. His hand cradled her cheek as his lips paid the tenderest of homages to her chest, neck, hair, face…

He wanted to consume all of her body, if not her spirit. Drown her in his violent embraces and fill her with cum. Mark her neck and breasts with his teeth as his own just as his throbbing cock was savagely claiming her cunt. Envelop her in his scent. In every way. 

His mouth clenched at the base of her throat, causing her to nearly faint in ecstasy. Whatever resistance she had was gone from her completely now. He could feel her flesh yielding to him in each thrust. 

His claws pinched at her thigh, causing her to writhe, and when she came, she softly screamed into his shoulder as she held on for dear life as bliss drowned her in wave after wave. 

Knowing he wasn’t done, she let herself be turned over and braced herself on the edge of the bed as his hands slapped onto her bottom and his knuckles kneaded into the muscle before he spread her wide again. She almost bucked away when she felt him rub her clit, strumming the sides of his fingers against it to allow for the friction of skin-to-skin contact. Her heart constricted, feeling as though she was being turned inside out. She leaned back her head, her brow creasing under the growing pressure between her legs as he then slid in his middle finger in slow, dragging lines. 

His palms grasped onto her hips, dragging her towards him then reached over to clench over her breasts as he rammed in. 

Her lower body reverberated with his in quick time, slapping against him as he forced her hips to meet his with every strike and fucked her in total abandon. Her breasts bounced from the ferocity of the movements and as she stretched herself forward, clinging to whatever she could, she gasped in raw pleasure. She could not think past feeling him pumping in and out of her swollen, turgid flesh. A moment later, his body loomed over hers and she saw his beautiful long silver hair cascade down them both. He was breathing hard above her and she felt a fleeting, wild thrill to see him so disassembled. His hips suddenly snapped and as he bit down the rising groan coming deep from his throat, he stopped and seized her long hair. 

She cried out in shock as her neck jerked back and she was pinned down flat on her back again. Her thighs opened up, this time willingly, and when he shoved himself back inside of her, his hand cradled her face as the other clawed around her shoulder. 

“ _Look at me._ ” He panted, bidding her eyes to focus on him. 

Izayoi’s dark gaze met his, seeing nothing but a sea of amber. Her brows pinched together as she felt herself about to come again. 

He could feel it too and at the last moment, just as she felt herself being pitched to heaven, he slammed against her, pulsating out all of himself as a ragged, low roar was wrenched out from him. 

Thrown into the heights of pleasure, he gripped her to him as his senses went into total freefall and they descended back to the earthly plane to which they both belonged. 

She sighed into his neck, a happy sweet sound, and it seemed to him the kiss she left on his lips could have expiated the sum total of all his sins. 

They lay in bed, locked in each other’s arms. Neither willing to move for fear that all of this was a waking dream that could end at the slightest provocation. 

So instead, they stayed close, drifting in and out of a daze as their minds cleared and their breathing steadied to a regular pace. 

At some point, neither could remember how or when exactly, their hands reached for one another and entwined their fingers together as if having been joined by the crimson threads of fate. 

They held on, not realizing the fatal impressions they were leaving on each other’s hearts or the deadly, obsessive fire that had been ignited within him. 

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By autumn, the nine-fold palace was confident in knowing who was the emperor’s new favorite, much to the empress’s displeasure and the collective outrage of the emperor’s harem. 

The day she found out the Inu no Taisho consummated his relationship with the girl, she executed the five maids who had been part of Izayoi’s original household. The one mercy, if you could call it that, she offered was to have them drink poison rather than being beheaded or stabbed to death. 

When the princess was sadly informed that her maidservants had been killed, she fainted straight away and for three days, lay in her bed in devastated stupor. 

The emperor, having witnessed the aftermath of this, responded in kind by targeting the same number of the empress’s most valued generals and swiftly decapitated them on the grounds of “treason.” 

The confrontation that ensued afterwards was astounding in the magnitude of destruction left in their wake. 

Fearful, the court watched the ugly shouting matches between the emperor and empress where a number of times they almost came to blows. No one could understand it. How could two matchless rulers, so gifted and powerful, descend into such madness? Neither was acting with any thought or consequence of their actions. It was like watching a tsunami and a typhoon colliding in one terrifying natural disaster. 

It was true that the Inu no Taisho and his demoness were passionate creatures but it was not in their nature to be so reckless. The only thing that made any sense to the courtiers was since Princess Izayoi had been taken up as a concubine, relations between the imperial couple had become dramatically worse.

So, naturally, they blamed her, even if Their Majesties did not. 

“How _dare_ you show your face to me! On what grounds would you even think of touching my men?!” The empress could be heard screaming at the emperor behind closed doors. 

“Your hypocrisy is something else.” He spat. “There wasn’t _any_ reason for you to go after those girls.” 

“Isn’t that sentimental, coming from you.” She scathingly threw back at him. “Don’t act so high and mighty. You’ve killed before. Many times.” 

“But not the innocent.” His eyes narrowed. 

“According to you.” 

The emperor suddenly stepped towards her, unable to restrain his fury. “You hurt her again like this,” he threatened, “I’ll hurt you right back.” 

“You think that’s what this is?” The empress laughingly smiled, not quite able to believe what she was hearing but then again, it wasn’t surprising. The Inu no Taisho was disappointingly slow when it came to picking up on subtleties. 

“I am _not_ hurting her.” She said softly, wondering if he would _ever_ get it. “I am driving her away. From you.” 

  
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A decent, honorable man would have waited. 

Shown kindness and understanding through patience. Perhaps even leave a bouquet of flowers or display a show of tender affection to brighten the day of a woman in her grief. 

But the emperor is no man, much less a good one. 

He doesn’t wait for Izayoi to recover or come to terms with her grief over losing her friends. 

The last links of her old life from before. Instead, he takes her body in a misguided attempt to stop her misery through pleasure. It is one of the few, if not only way, a demon could show and express that emotion he could not name. 

When he walked into the bedroom, the first thing he did was come over to her bedside and pull her upright from the pillows on which she lied. Listless, she could barely greet him and when he kissed her, her lips weakly returned the embrace, not from lack of affection but deep sadness. She would not look at him either. 

It unsettled him, this sorrowed silence. He knew she had been crying. He could smell her tears and taste their residue on his tongue when he leaned down to lick her jawline. What, in the name of heaven, could he do to make this better for her? If he could have plucked the brightest stars from the sky or lay the moon at her feet, he would have done so. He didn’t even know what to say and decided to show her instead. 

Wordlessly, his claws reached down to hitch up the skirts of her white robes and it was only then did she finally respond by placing a gentle hand on his wrist to stop him. Though she said nothing, her lovely dark eyes were shadowed in reluctance. 

He kissed her again then at the base of her throat but lifted the hem of her dress and tore away her smallclothes. Bringing her hand to clasp around his neck, he bent his knees just a little as he took his cock out, already hard and hot. Spitting into his hand, he worked himself all over and once he found his way in, he began to push rhythmically. She was so warm. His brows pinched together as his head dropped low, momentarily overwhelmed by the heat of her core. 

He brought his thrusts to slow, hard intervals so he went as deep as he could each time. He held onto her, pulled into a sweet and soft ecstasy that he so craved. His lips pressed against her temple then groaned when he felt her trembling arms finally close over his back and shoulders. Her fingers pressed into the skin over his ribs then his backside, leaving red marks as her mind was being forced into a state of awakening. When she moved her hips closer to the edge of the bed, they both choked as the angle changed to a better degree, allowing him to dig in and her rising to meet it. 

His hands reached for her breasts, traversing his palms across their fine weight and feeling them press pleasantly back. He could hear her breathing quicken and as their eyes met again, he saw her cheeks flushed pink and her dewy lips gleaming like a morning rose. Lowering himself so their foreheads could touch, he whispered a promise, an assurance for her to take heart in. 

“...I’ll make my empress pay for what she did.” He grabbed her behind with both hands, forcing her to take his thrust to the fullest as he drew in. 

“No...please...no…” Izayoi pleaded against his shoulder, her lips kissing its curved bone as she wrapped her arms around him. His chest bumped into hers but she held on, not wanting to let him go. 

“Please…” Her entreaties were almost lost on him as he felt himself edging out to oblivion. He could hear Izayoi moaning and knew she was following closely on the heels of his own finish. 

They came together, his exerted breaths melting into her beautiful black hair while her cries were smothered along his neck. 

She shook as he withdrew away from her and felt his seed pool out of her reddened cunt. He was kneeling before her now, the front of his robes creased and stained as being the only evidence of what had happened earlier. Twisting her hair away, she reached over and brushed back some strands of his own hair behind his ear then tried to smooth away the mess they made on his clothes. 

He let her do as she liked, pleased by her attention. These were wifely gestures, almost. Loving. 

“Tell me why do you want me to spare her.” He asked after some time had passed. 

“...if I had simply done what the empress had asked of me, my friends would still be alive. But I was afraid and it’s because of my selfishness, they died.” Izayoi turned away, being brought close to tears again at the thought of her maids and bit down on her lip. 

Rising, he reached over to guide her face to look at him. 

“It wasn’t your fault, Izayoi.” The emperor’s golden eyes were alight in sympathy. 

“I’m not so sure about that.” 

“ _She_ was the one who executed the girls. Not you.” 

“You’ve already repaid her in kind.” Izayoi whispered. “Why did you have to do that? Did those generals have to die?” 

“They were her greatest supporters. By eliminating them, she’s less of a threat now and I was able to do right by you. It was killing two birds with one stone.” 

She took his hand and in a vehement, tender gesture, she held it close to her heart. 

“I am begging you,” her fingers clenched over his, “please don’t kill on whim, especially if the reason has anything to do with me.”

“It’s blood for blood.” He told her but he did not take his hand away. His eyes flickered over to where it was and noted the warmth of her chest seeping into his palm. 

“Compromise can be made in other ways. Your Majesty knows this well.” 

Yes, he did. But it was the wrong thing for her to say. The room seemed to fall several degrees cooler as he stood up and straightened himself, letting go of her hand. 

He looked down at the princess he just made love to, for that was what he thought it was. 

“What are you suggesting?” His tone was glacial. 

Izayoi turned away in frightened silence which set him off. He grabbed her chin, coercing her to look straight at him. He wanted to see if she was being sincere. Or rather, search for _any_ sign that she wanted the empress more than him. 

“If I go to Her Majesty and attend her as she wants,” Izayoi’s words sliced through him like knives, “will you stop this infighting between yourselves?” 

“I thought you hated her.” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “She...what the hell are you thinking? She killed your servants.” 

“They were my _friends_ and yes, she did.” Izayoi sorrowfully acknowledged. “But I cannot hate her because ultimately, I am the one who is still responsible for their deaths. She wouldn’t have done that if I had given her what she wanted. I didn’t want to and I knew I couldn’t but I didn’t even try...I should have protected them. The palace blames me, you know. They’ve noticed your fights. People are worried everything is going to be unstable again.” 

“I don’t care what the court thinks.” He snapped. “Nor do I give a damn about the empress’s feelings. If she so much as tries to take you for herself or I catch you running after her—” 

Her distraught expression stopped him. 

_I’m driving her away. From you._ The empress’s words echoed across his conscience and the thought alone was enough to put him into a low extreme. 

So...this had been the game all along? 

He looked at Izayoi and her disheveled robes, her lips still bruised and red from his kiss. Even now in this state of undress, she still looked charmingly exquisite as she sat on his bed. As emperor, he could have had any woman he wanted but none would be as extraordinarily forgiving and good as this fair princess before him. Her romantic beauty besides, there was something else he longed after. Not just her happiness which he wished or even her body, which he had developed an insatiable appetite for now. It was the grace of her love. 

He wanted it. Badly. 

It had caught his eye when he first looked upon her, like sunlight winking against pristine glass. He had seen fleeting glimpses of it over the months he had known her. Like when she played her koto for him, strumming her fingers along the strings as she let its notes float out into the night. Or the time he won a real, first smile from her when he allowed her maidservants to be with her again and saw her joyful gratitude when he later gifted her some works from the imperial collection. 

Yet, though he could never voice it aloud for his pride as a _daiyōkai_ would never allow it, this unnatural lust terrified him. Set his mind aflame with no other thought or desire than to constantly seek it. Her capacity to accept him. Forgive him. No matter what he did or said. He could come to her either as a conqueror or a broken man and she would love him all the same. 

But Izayoi could not do that, he was convinced, if the empress sank her claws into her and made her into her own creature. 

It wasn’t like he didn’t tell her how it would be from the beginning. Demons did not like sharing. He was no exception to that. 

“I will _never,_ ” he vehemently swore, _“_ let you go.” 

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It was late winter when the empress was finally able to corner Izayoi at last. 

Still brooding over the unfortunate episode in the fall, she had to switch tactics as she received a steady stream of reports from spies she had placed in the Inu no Taisho’s household. With increasing annoyance, she learned how the emperor was keeping the princess under close watch. He spent any spare moment he had with Izayoi and of course, claimed her entirely for himself nearly every night. 

As physical testaments to how often the emperor was with his mortal consort, the servants told the empress the bedding had to be regularly changed out and it became a habit now to overhear muffled cries and groans coming from the emperor’s rooms at all hours. They said the princess was beginning to sport bruises and thin cuts all over her pretty body where the emperor had bitten or raked his claws. His Majesty, too, did not go unscathed. His back looked raw with scratches and he was increasingly getting up later in the mornings, not wanting to leave his bed too soon. 

At this, a dark cloud veiled the empress’s ravishing countenance. 

To set things in motion, with the help of her own maids and support from the imperial physicians, she had medicinal teas sent daily to the Inu no Taisho’s compound for Izayoi as well-intended gifts. A vast majority were soundly rejected, not by the princess herself, but by the emperor. However, thanks to a few discreet staff, the empress was aware her teas had been accepted and was being regularly used. 

For weeks she had to bide her time, waiting to strike. Finally, the opportunity came just at the right moment. 

Lately the empress had taken to a habit of walking the grounds with her entourage of ladies-in-waitings. Either early in the morning or late afternoon, just when the sun was about to rise or set. The palace didn’t know what to make of this and dismissed it as mere exercise. 

That is, of course, when people started to realize the emperor and his princess also took their walks too at the same, exact times. 

“Why, Your Majesty,” the empress beguilingly flashed her brilliant fangs at the Inu no Taisho and Izayoi when she crossed paths with them in one of the main gardens. “What a lovely surprise...and how refreshing to see you’ve brought out your flower for some sun. I was beginning to worry she was going to wilt from inactivity.” 

The ladies-in-waiting anxiously watched as their empress boldly stepped forward in Izayoi’s direction, only to have the emperor cut her off right in her path. 

“It’s kind of you to inquire.” His entire demeanor radiated dangerous energy and even some of his own staff began to back away. The empress’s ladies held their breath, nervously wondering how far their mistress was planning to take this. 

“I’d prefer to speak to the princess directly.” The empress wasn’t intimidated in the least. 

The Inu no Taisho was unmoved. “Be on your way, Empress.” 

That was when Izayoi decided to speak up. Gently laying a hand on the emperor’s arm, she moved away from his protective stance and addressed the empress directly. 

The empress brightened up at that. “Now come, why don’t we take a turn around the garden together? The emperor is more than welcome to join of course.” Her eyes scornfully went in his direction before they returned to rest on Izayoi. 

“Your Majesty is very kind. I’d be glad to.” Izayoi politely accepted, much to the Inu no Taisho’s surprise and annoyance. 

“Splendid!” The empress immediately linked arms with her. 

With the emperor closely following them, they strolled about the palace. The empress talked most of the time, exchanging multiple pleasantries with the princess. 

“I heard you love flowers.” The empress suddenly remarked. “Did you not have a garden in your old home?” 

“Not as beautiful as the ones here.” Izayoi acknowledged with a shy smile. “But there was a beach just steps away from my house. I used to walk there all the time.” 

She then described its long, unending lines of pale sand and how the green-grey sea endlessly curled away from the shoreline, leaving ribbons of seaweed and light trails of effervescent foam. Her manse had been nestled just a mile from the coast, protected from the harsh ocean winds and damaging salt by a clustered forest. As a little girl, there was nothing she liked more than to run down to the beach and collect as many shells as she could find. Iridescent abalone. Striped cowries. Rainbow-colored scallops. She used to make sculptures in the sand, studding them with rocks then leaving them for the tide to take them away. Peace offerings to the sea, in return for more treasures from the deep. 

“You seem so happy over something quite simple.” The empress said at length, noting the softened look in Izayoi’s eyes and wondering why the edges of her heart felt like they were burning underneath the princess’s gaze. 

“Joy is easy to find and doesn’t cost very much.” Izayoi said. 

“Oh I disagree with you there. It’s hideously expensive.” The empress countered but she was smiling. 

“It doesn’t have to be.” The princess looked thoughtful. “Empress, if you would like someone to talk to, please know I can be here for you.” 

“What a silly idea,” the empress laughed, “you do realize I don’t really care about talking to you, I just want—” 

Izayoi took her hand and held it in a platonic gesture of friendship.

But the others did not see it that way. Everyone stopped in their tracks and stared on, not knowing what to do or say. Especially the empress. 

“I can see you are lonely and sad.” The princess’s voice was lowered in commiseration and sorrow. “I think it’s why you act out like this. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Please, let me help you.” 

The empress’s eyes widened ever so slightly, thoroughly taken aback. 

“Izayoi.” The emperor’s voice harshly interrupted. 

Having lost all patience, he strode forward and broke their hands apart, taking Izayoi’s into his while flinging the empress’s aside. 

In the cold light of the winter sun, the Inu no Taisho and the demoness glared at one another as rivals over a kill. The air between them solidified into hostile silence. It was not the empress’s lust nor her capricious spite that the emperor had seen and been provoked into action. The want was unmistakable, whether the empress understood it yet or not. But the emperor she knew would in time and feared it. 

Fear. 

How had he been reduced to this? He glanced at Izayoi then at the empress again. 

With cruel deliberation, he drew the princess close then cupping her chin, he kissed her hard on the mouth. 

Immediately, his retainers and the empress’s ladies-in-waiting looked away, wishing they were anywhere else but here. 

Surprised and embarrassed by this unexpected display of public affection, Izayoi tried to resist him but he forced her to remain where she was. For a moment, he felt her yield to him, and however brief it was, it had been long enough for the empress to see it. 

Triumphantly, he broke off his passionate kiss and turned to get a good glimpse of the empress’s face. 

In her eyes, to his satisfaction, he thought he could see defeat. 

Then hate. 

Unbridled, limitless hate. 

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“ _Why_ did you have to antagonize her like that?” 

“She deserved it. The way she looked at you when you held her hand…!”

‘I was trying to be kind to her.” 

“Kind? She doesn’t even know what the word means. Look at what she did to your friends! To my own son! Thanks to her malignant influence, he doesn’t even want to speak to me.” 

“The prince will come around, I’m sure of it, if only you could explain to him—” 

“ _Why do you not hate her?_ After what she did to you? _”_

_“...”_

“Damn you, _answer me!”_

“How can I hate someone who is so alone and unhappy that she has to resort to schemes and killing in order to fill a void? How can I despise her when I see she is in a loveless match with a mate who doesn’t want her? When I know she wishes she had someone to care for her.” 

“And you intend to be that ‘someone’?” 

“....please don’t be like this.” 

“Do _you_ care for her?” 

“Tōga…” 

“ _Do you love her?”_

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“No matter what I say or do, neither of you will be happy.” 

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The world looks black and blue to him, devoid of all beauty. There is little that can alleviate him but he goes through the motions and courses of being an emperor. Attend council meetings. Review petitions and progress reports. Tour the regions. Watch the song-and-dance of useless ceremonies. His advisers fear him, sensing his agitation but unable to understand why. The servants won’t go anywhere near him either. By now, they know when to leave him alone. 

Izayoi, however, does not get the benefit to do so. 

Nightly, he imprisons her body with his own on the bed. He tears off her clothes, kisses every inch and corner of her then pulls her to get on top of him so she is facing his feet and her backside is to him. Arresting her by the thighs, he forcibly brings her lower body down and just _goes_. His lips widens over her as his tongue traverses across her clit then into her. He almost chokes when he feels his cock go right into her mouth and nearly loses his concentration on the task at hand. 

To kiss her here is like diving into a multi-petaled bloom. It’s easy to lose himself in these luxuriantly soft folds and wet layers. Her bottom is high and tight; it’s as if he is holding onto ripe fruit. To see her so shamelessly exposed and have this part of her to himself is the closest to heaven he thinks he will ever be. 

He can feel her hands cup his balls as her lips run down his tip then encase part of his length. He hears her momentarily choke and the subsequent moans she makes reverberates throughout his entire body. From the first, he wants to explode right then and there. 

Instead, he grits down and simply digs his tongue as deeply as he can. 

He doesn’t stop until she comes, punctuating the air with her sweet gasping. None too gently, he reaches over to make her go down on him again, purposefully lifting his hips so she can take all of him. Her face is pressed so close to his body that he can feel the end of scrape the back of her throat, causing her to gag but he keeps her head where it is as he pushes in retaliation. She retches and struggling to breathe, she spits him out, overwhelmed. 

Seizing her body, he forces her to return to him and will not let her rise until he can’t take it anymore. A tangle of limbs later, he has her by the waist and sees that her limbs are rendered languid from the shock of her orgasm earlier. Clasping her to him, he shoves himself inside her, seared by the heat of her cunt. After a few rough pushes, he grabs her to him and together, they stand. He takes them to a nearby dresser where he sits her down on top of it then loses control. 

The walls blur around him. 

All he cares about is this moment, right now, and nothing else. He fucks her fast and furious, making the furniture shake and Izayoi tremble. Sometimes, she begs him to stop, saying he’s hurting her but he doesn’t listen. 

He just wants to come. In her. On her. 

In all honesty, he wants to punish her. 

For not giving him what he really wants. 

“Tell me you love me.” He demands as he pushes in so hard she cries out. Whether from pleasure or pain, he can’t tell anymore. 

But she still holds onto him, briefly resting her forehead on his chin. Her brow is slick with sweat and her hair is plastered to the sides of her face. She wants to collapse. His cock is just too much. She feels impaled and overwhelmed. Tormented. 

“ _Do—you—love—me—?_ ” He savagely thrusts in between words. 

She is breathless, unable to answer as her hips buck forward, trying to take him as much as she can. 

“Izayoi…” He is begging now and it cuts him down, destroying his pride. His hands clench over her hips. 

She suddenly grabs his hair and keeps his head back, away from her. 

“Why must you torture me this way,” she bitterly asks amidst his carnal embrace, “ _yes,_ I love you. I love you. I love the bits of goodness I’ve seen in you although you try so hard to pretend they don’t exist. I love your courage. How ruthless and determined you are for those whom you care for. For what you are, who you are now and what you will become. Even after what you’ve done. Even though you have hurt and used me for ill, _I still love you._ ” 

Her passion dissolves into a cry as his body slams against hers and she writhes in pained pleasure. This love, as insensate and dark as it was, in which no rational person could ever have countenanced as being good for the soul, was going to kill her. She feels condemned already by it, her heart weighed down by the knowledge of her own selfishness and stupidity for failing to abhor both demons. One who was responsible for the deaths of her friends and the other for her continued, miserable existence. 

“....always?” He pants, thrilled but his greed is not yet satisfied. Her hand falls away, letting his hair go and he can see she is about to come again. Her eyes close and her head goes back. Her arms encircle him like a vise. 

_“Always.”_ The word is wrenched against her will when a violent finish sweeps over her and her exultation is drowned out by his suffocating kiss. 

Her admission is enough to break him. 

He comes, groaning a curse as his hips spasm against her and he thinks he is going to die. He strains her closer, the earthy scent of his cum and salted fragrance of her skin dulling out his senses. So he holds onto her, blinded and racked by the last throes of ecstacy, unable to breathe or speak. 

All they can do is simply exist. 

Eventually, he feels her move then her lips brush the gentlest of kisses on his shoulder. He is undone by that singular, tender gesture and he doesn’t understand why but it means more to him than any territory he has conquered in the last millenia. 

“...only me.” He is barely able to make his plea. “I want you to love only me.” 

He tightens his arms around her so she can rest against him. Fall asleep and lay her head in the crook of his neck. He wants her to dream there and have her know she is safe with him. That there is nowhere else on earth but in his embrace where she can find her truest home. 

“There can be no one else.” He tells her as they are still connected and still locked in this consuming struggle that is destroying both of them from the inside. “Promise me, Izayoi.” 

“....only you….” He hears her whisper just before she collapses in exhaustion and he catches her as she falls on him. 

He presses his lips on the side of her beautiful head, feeling her hair brush along his cheek. He wants to smile. Revel in his triumph even though he is still terrified to admit his own truth. 

That he loves her too. 

How he cannot bear the thought of losing her and now sees he will not be able to survive without her either. 

  
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_All good things happen in the night._

That was a tenet the empress had come to believe in the course of her very long life on this earthly realm. 

Darkness afforded an escape. A time and place where all creatures could simultaneously display and hide their truest natures. The absence of light allowed for so much than day itself and seemed all the more beautiful for it. From night, chaos and love had been born. It was only natural that her children would want to remain in the glittering expanse of the universe. And what a universe it was. 

As far as the empress’s eyes could see, the starry heavens were limitless. The brightest planets slowly winked their colorful light as they were attended by hundreds of other lesser stars that glowed softly besides them. Effervescent streaks from the River of Heaven clouded the pathway between the constellations and as her piercing eyes discerned into the inky blackness, she could tease out the barest hint of a new moon. 

In the distance, far across the balcony of her magnificent compound, the empress looked to see Izayoi emerging from the verandah of the emperor’s pavilion. 

She walked in the night, clothed in silver-white wisps of silk that trailed behind in her wake. The adamant ornaments in her hair darkly glinted under the light of a hundred tapers that were blazing all around the corridors. As her head turned up to admire the night sky, the gentle starlight seemed to fall within her eyes and kiss her cheek. The sweetest of smiles graced her lips and she looked so calm, so at peace, that the empress felt her heart wring at the sight. 

_This_ was beauty. 

As the empress gazed upon her, she realized why people wept over fairy tales in which the princesses perished. If they were even as half as celestially beautiful as Izayoi was, she could understand their devastation now. 

The gods must have been thinking of something particularly cruel when they decided to make this fair child a mortal. 

_Nothing lasts forever, is that the lesson?_ The empress mused and it occurred to her that in the end, Izayoi would not live long. She had perhaps twenty years, at most. Possibly less. Humans died so quickly these days from a host of causes and a princess was no exception. 

_Which is better,_ the empress silently asked the stars. _To not love her at all or love her in the time she has left?_

The girl then walked to the open verandah where the empress could see some mats and a koto laid out. Setting herself down, Izayoi took the instrument into the lap of her dress and after adjusting the bridges, she pulled back her gauzy sleeves and played. 

The music that reached the empress was as soft and delicate as the first blush of spring. She watched Izayoi’s fingers gracefully pick at the thirteen strings and watched her expression soften into one of serene concentration. Whatever hopes and dreams lay within her elegant mind emerged in the murmuring music lilted by her fingertips. The empress leaned forward, listening intently and for a few precious minutes, she was transported to a romantic world where silver-gilded pagodas stood high amidst sea cliffs of a dreamy shore and the pearly moon gazed down at the sight of a pair of hand-clasped women in love.

But the spell broke when she heard the emperor’s voice call for the princess and saw his tall silhouette approaching Izayoi. 

She noticed everything. The stupid smile on his face, Izayoi answering him ever so prettily. The way he touched her shoulder. 

He seemed so content. Happy. 

But then again, the empress wondered as her gaze arrested on the girl, so could she.

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At some point, instead of idling away their occasional consummation nights, Their Majesties had Izayoi accompany them. 

When the palace household found out, they were appalled, thinking that the imperial bed had sunk to the lowest depravity. So _this_ was what it was really like to have demons as rulers! A majority reacted with incredulous disgust. Some of the advisers however grumbled. If the Inu no Taisho and his empress were inclined to such an arrangement, why did they not ask for some consorts in the harem to join them too? They wondered in dismay. 

But to everyone’s confoundment, nothing happened. Instead, the emperor and empress continued their usual routines of leisure activity but never went to the bedroom or even brought the princess there. 

The empress’s ladies could attest that these evenings went by without incident and were wholly chaste in nature. If the emperor and empress played games, they would either have Izayoi watch or let join a match against the other. They brought her along hunts and at the empress’s suggestion, taught her swordsmanship which they practiced in the courtyards. 

To Her Majesty’s delight, Izayoi turned out to be a quick study but just as the lessons were going so well, the princess’s skill suffered a sudden reversal. She tired very easily and felt sick all the time. Her sleep became interrupted and soon, the empress noticed dark circles beginning to form beneath her eyes. Even her appetite had lessened. 

Eagle-eyed observers began to speculate as to the cause. Maybe the imperial favorite was being poisoned. Or pregnant. 

People started asking questions but when the subject finally reached the imperial couple’s ears, it was greeted with marked scepticism. The empress, for one, point-blanked denied it. The emperor was more cautiously reserved in his reaction but he too dismissed the idea because he was sure Izayoi would have said something to him if that really had been the case and she had made no mention. 

The princess herself merely responded to these rumors with a sad smile. She had been with the Inu no Taisho for a year and a half now yet there had been nothing to show for it. But was that really much of a surprise? After all, she hadn’t been able to give her first husband any children either when they were married. She supposed she was barren and told the emperor her suspicion, which had caused her anxiety. By now she was well aware of the pressure on him to produce more heirs and the ire of his counselors for not following through. 

Which is why she broached the topic with him and suggested, however painful as it was, that perhaps he could reconsider the harem again. 

“Absolutely not,” was his reply and he made it clear she was not to bring it up ever again because it was out of the question. He told her he did not care and had no wish to sire his future children with any demons left languishing in a harem that he never asked for.

So Izayoi kept quiet, trying to keep the peace between him and his empress all the while feeling physically wretched as time went on. These days, she was so poorly and could hardly get a bite, it was a wonder that she hadn’t starved yet. The most she could tolerate was some rice gruel and sips of fruit juice. Anything else was likely to cause her to retch. 

“You really should eat something.” Her Majesty was finally moved to comment over dinner one night. 

The three of them were seated on the grandiose verandah of the empress’s pavilion where a fine table had been set out for them so they could enjoy their meal outdoors in warmer climes. Both Their Majesties had already finished but Izayoi had hardly touched her plate. She timidly plucked at her food with a spoon but didn’t bring a morsel to her lips. 

“Here, try some of these chestnut cakes. Come sit by me, dearest,” the empress beckoned to the princess who was sitting besides the emperor. 

“She’s fine where she is.” The Inu no Taisho responded in an unnecessarily fierce tone. 

“I wasn’t asking you.” 

Before their sharp rebukes could give way to a nasty spat, Izayoi silently rose from her place next to the emperor and dragged her seat cushion so she was now right in between them at the table. Throwing the Inu no Taisho a plaintive look, she moved her place setting and attempted but failed to obey the empress’s prior command to eat. 

“Perhaps you would like soup instead.” The empress frowned. “I see you were given meat again. Tōga, how many times do I have to tell you, Izayoi prefers fish.”

“I know what she prefers.” The emperor coldly responded. 

“Do you?” The empress’s eyes gleamed. “Then if you know her so well, perhaps you would have noticed how awful her health has been in the last few weeks.” 

Both Izayoi and the Inu no Taisho turned to the empress. The princess herself bit down on her lip and put away her spoon, defeated by her lack of appetite at last. Did she really look so unwell that it was obvious? She felt embarrassed. But what the empress said was true. She had been feeling a general malaise for some time now but had hoped it would pass. Worriedly, she glanced at the emperor but he seemed too annoyed to remark further on it. 

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” His Majesty dismissively commented, thinking that the empress was simply trying to get him riled up over nothing. 

“Look at her. There’s something wrong.” 

“I _am_ looking at her. She’s fine.” 

“Are you blind? She’s not eating or getting enough sleep.” 

“How is any of this your concern?” 

“I obviously care more for her well-being than you do.” The empress coolly noted. “You’re only interested in fucking so the rest be damned, am I right, _Your Majesty_?” 

“Empress, please.” Izayoi whispered, trying to placate her. She suddenly felt dizzy. All the candlelight around them seemed too bright and everything before her was swimming into a blur of color. Trembling, she tried to steady herself by gripping on the edge of the table. 

“She’s fine!” The Inu no Taisho finally snapped. “Everything is fine! Izayoi is fine! There’s nothing wrong with her—” 

Dishes shattered as the empress jumped from her place and rushed to catch Izayoi before she hit the floor. The princess’s head lolled back in her arms, her long black hair spilling over like water, as the empress enfolded her in a protective embrace. 

Stunned into silence, the emperor could only stare after them, completely caught off guard. 

Her Majesty raised her eyes at him in accusation. 

“You were saying...?” The empress sarcastically noted to him as she clutched the unconscious girl to her. 

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Izayoi lay in bed, propped in pillows and resting in the tranquil sanctuary of the emperor’s rooms. In quiet contemplation, her fingertips traced out the embroidered patterns of the blankets piled on her as she gazed at the colored threads. The morning sun had just peaked, whitening the lattice screens in soft bright light. The emperor sat in a nearby chair, pushed close to the bedside as much as possible, and was looking at her in real concern. 

“You’re unhappy, aren’t you?” She heard him say and when she turned to him in incredulity, she was startled to see his marked disappointment over the perception that she was somehow displeased. It was plain enough on his face. 

“Unhappy?” She repeated before disarming him with a lovely, genuine smile. “Do you really think that?” 

She reached for his hand and held it tight, prompting him to kneel beside her as he clung to her fingers. 

“...you don’t mind then?” He dropped the pretence and looked upon her with naked emotion. He was trembling and all of his coldness, his glacial air, warmed into glowing exultation. But he could not seem to speak any further, as though he didn’t have the courage to venture on. It touched her to see him this way and moved to comfort him, she reached over to kiss his forehead. 

“I am so happy to be having your baby, I think my heart might burst.” She whispered. It was true. To think, after all these years, she thought motherhood would be forever denied to her. Yet somehow, Fortune had smiled on her again and allowed her this singularly wonderful gift of carrying a child of the man she loved. 

Overjoyed, he brought her hand to his lips then clutched her close to his heart. They held each other like that for a long while and broke away only when a maidservant came in with her tray. 

“Oh, I don’t know if I can manage this,” Izayoi apologetically remarked as she eyed the very pretty lunch laid out for her. She did not like seeing food go to waste and was about to send it back when the emperor stopped her. 

“No, you need to eat.” He said firmly. 

“It’ll probably end up on the floor tomorrow morning.” She murmured dismally. 

“Take whatever you can but you must eat. You and the baby need it.” He refused to alter his position. 

“Perhaps tea, then.” Izayoi conceded and was about to reach for the porcelain cup which the maid offered her when suddenly, violently, it was thrown to the side by the Inu no Taisho’s hand. The cup shattered into dozens of irretrievable pieces as the hot liquid splattered across the wooden floor, away from the bed. 

The maid shrieked, dropping the entire tray, while Izayoi could do nothing but stare in open-mouthed shock. 

“Tōga, why…?” Izayoi could barely speak, horrified by the emperor’s outburst, and to her alarm, he then rose up to seize the maid by her shoulders. 

“Where did you get that?” He angrily demanded as he shook her. “Answer me!” 

“Stop! Stop! You’re hurting her!” Izayoi cried, getting out of bed. “Let her go!” 

“ _Where did you get that drink?!”_ The emperor bared his teeth at the maid, ignoring Izayoi’s protestations. 

“It’s mine! It’s my tea, it’s my favorite one. I ask for it all the time, it’s not her fault!” The princess earnestly pleaded with him. “Now, _please_ , let her go.” 

He did as she asked and the maidservant, scrambling away, immediately withdrew from the room in terror. 

“It’s yours?” He was shocked. 

“Yes,” Izayoi said, not understanding why on earth he was so agitated about something that seemed insignificant to her, “I...I liked the taste. Her Majesty—” 

“The empress?” He cut her off. “What does the empress have to do with this?” 

“She was the one who gave me the tea. As a gift.” Izayoi said, confused. “Why?” 

She reached out to touch his hand in concern, trying to get him to see her. His eyes seemed distracted in a wild frenzy and when she finally got him to look at her last, all she could see was a clear expression of bitterness and rage. 

“ _Stay here._ ” He ordered through clenched teeth and without another word, he withdrew. 

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He wants to kill her. 

When the emperor finds the empress, he almost tears her throat out. She however is able to beat him back and manages to swipe her claws across his face. Her blow leaves angry, red poisoned streaks in his countenance and she smiles at the damage. 

“You fucking bitch…!” He rages. “ _Explain yourself!”_

“Why should I?” The empress viciously hisses. “I was protecting Izayoi, which is more than you’ve ever done since you claimed her as your concubine. Do you know how dangerous pregnancy and childbirth are to a human woman? She could die from this, you stupid fool. All because you want more children.” 

“So in wanting to punish me, you chose to give her poisoned tea so she wouldn’t conceive.” He would never understand her cruel logic. It was mind-boggling, if not horrendous. 

“Izayoi couldn’t possibly want to have your baby. What woman would? Demon or mortal.” The empress spitefully throws in his face. “I already went through the sorry experience once before and I wouldn’t want to wish that on anyone. Least of all, her.” 

“She almost drank it today.” The emperor’s hands shake in gross anticipation and the want to rip the empress into pieces. “She didn’t know what it was...and you nearly had her destroy our child.” 

“I was giving her a saving grace.” The empress was not sorry. 

“Is that what you call it?” 

“Instead of burdening her, you should have impregnated some of the demonesses that were already at your disposal. At least your offspring would have been pure-blooded _yōkai.”_

“Izayoi’s child is no less than my own.” His words are iron. “Regardless of its humanity, I _will_ recognize this baby as a royal and you, the court, down to the lowest peasant on this god-forsaken island are going to accept it.” 

“Don’t make me laugh. You honestly think you’re doing her any favors by having her bear your half-breed? Whether that child is a prince or a bastard, no one will ever let him forget what he is and they’ll always hate him for it.”

“You,” his eyes narrow, “I don’t _ever_ want you anywhere _near_ her again. Do you understand me?”

“ _I. Am. Your. Empress_.” The demoness reminds him. “This palace is as much as my home as it is yours. Anything you have belongs to me too, by right. And whether you like it or not, that includes Izayoi.” 

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Time passed, in startling and swift changes of the season. Trees bloomed, thrived, withered then went bare as did the gardens. Courtiers came and went, flitting in and out, as did all the counselors whenever there was business. 

And when it came to the emperor, there was _always_ business to be done. 

As though it hadn’t had enough shocks since the usurpation, the court was bewildered by the Inu no Taisho’s latest declaration. Izayoi, that minor princess who had no political support, wealth, or even a dowry, was to be made empress. 

They objected, humans and demons alike, only to be told that there was a precedent for this which was true. In the past, some mortal emperors had two empresses with their privileges and courtesies split evenly between. So, the Inu no Taisho simply did the exact same thing by allowing the empress to retain her title as _kōgo,_ the Lustrous Heir-Bearer and elevating Izayoi to _chūgu_ , the Inner Palatine. 

No one liked this.

Not even Izayoi herself, who repeatedly asked what the necessity was. Rightly, she suspected there was another reason for why the emperor had chosen to do this which he admits in private. 

“By making you empress, _mine_ won’t be able to claim you as her concubine. Not now or ever after you’re crowned.” He explained to Izayoi on the eve of her coronation. 

But when he saw her concerned gaze and that she was extremely worried for reasons unknown to him, he took her hand and tried to reassure her. 

“We’ll be seen as formally married from this point on. You’re to be my wife, not just a bed companion, and the mother of my children.” His eyes went down to her pregnant belly which had already begun to show. “I don’t want anyone thinking twice about what you are to me.” 

The next day, the coronation went without a hitch with Izayoi looking every bit as the splendid and glittering consort that everyone could want in a future mother of the nation. After all the feasting, merriment, and celebratory fireworks setting off in the night, the emperor retired to his chambers with his second empress while the first remained, in cold fury, to watch the ongoing festivities until dawn. 

In the following months, as Izayoi’s pregnancy progressed so did the emperor’s ardor for her. To spectators, he had grown extraordinarily defensive of her, if not controlling, by having his new empress close to him always and being quicker to perceive potential threats no matter how small they might have been. 

They slept together with her body gathered to him and his arm thrown over her then split their mealtimes and leisure hours together during the day. He often would not let her leave the bed without having achieved a climax that left her breathless and starstruck. They made love lying side-by-side as he pushed in slow, deep strokes and protectively caressed her stomach with his hand where he could feel the little life within pulsating. She nearly passed out from the sheer pleasure of it all and would reach over to let him touch her breasts which had grown into even more stunning creatures than before. He fell in love with them all over again, marveling over the silken whorls of her nipples as he encased them with his mouth. 

Her hair turned thick and lush, curling around him in blackened streams when she got on her knees and let him take her from behind. He grabbed every and any part of her that he could, driving his cock as much as her body would allow, to the point he could feel her bottom press at his base. Her skin was smooth and radiant under his hands, winning his wholehearted worship as he kissed her shoulders and pinned her down by the wrists. There was no part of her that he did not know and she, him. 

Her lust spiked, to the point that she physically ached for him during the day when he was away. By the time he returned to their rooms, he could smell the heat coming off of her and found her entirely willing. Her cunt was swollen and practically dripping for him when he spread her thighs, which made it all the easier for him to do her as he pleased. No matter how hard or fast. He memorized the taste of her on his tongue and she engraved her love bites onto his neck, each wanting to leave their mark on each other’s bodies, if not their souls. 

A true, sinful meeting of heaven and earth. That was what it felt like for them in those sensuous days as they awaited their baby’s arrival. 

It was fortunate for them that they were able to cherish this window of time and at least one of them would always be able to look back and say, without falsity or regret, they had known what real passion was. What love felt like. 

As well as what it cost. 

  
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Just when Izayoi was counting down the days to her delivery date, the emperor and the first empress received news of an uprising in the east. Bands of humans had gathered, under the fearsome banner of Ryūkotsusei, the dragon. Their aim was to restore the previous imperial line, even though the Inu no Taisho and the demoness had killed most of its direct members, and in due course cast away the usurpers from the chrysanthemum throne.

The palace then jumped into immediate action. All of the emperor’s and empress’s respective armies were called out. Courtiers absconded to their country seats in fear and counselors went through all the household accounts in minute detail, overseeing preparations and stores in case of a siege. Advisers and generals conferred with both Their Majesties on strategy as well as reviewing intelligence reports. For the first time since the usurpation, the court was relieved to see the emperor and his first empress setting aside their differences to work towards success. 

Knowing that Izayoi had no martial skills to speak of, they commanded Sesshomaru to return from his wandering travels so he could defend the capital. As a precautionary measure, they outlined the succession plan again to include the new baby after Sesshomaru and decided to name Izayoi as acting regent until the crown prince was able to return to claim his right. 

It wasn’t long before the emperor and his first empress headed to the battlefront themselves. 

By then, it was late winter and the whole country was in deep snow. The palace had turned into a landscape of pure white and edges of black where the main structures just barely peeked from the snow cover. 

All of the household and the entire court had gathered in the main hall to see Their Majesties off. They watched with simultaneous sympathy and scorn as the armored emperor held the second empress close to his heart. They cradled each other’s faces with their hands and shared a long, deep kiss like it was to be their last before he reached down to touch her heavily pregnant belly. 

“Write to me everyday. I don’t care if it’s just a sentence. I want to hear from you and know you’re alright.” The Inu no Taisho murmured as they withdrew from each other. 

“We will be well, my love,” she reassured him, “the baby and I will be here to greet you on your victorious return.” 

“Izayoi.” The empress’s silvery voice interjected. 

The emperor stiffened and as he rose to his full height, he saw the empress readjusting her vambrace on her left arm. Her entire person was in full white-and-gold armor, just as he was. Her long silver hair, so much like his own, had been braided up and fastened with a net of moonstones. Even now, after all that had happened, he couldn’t help but admire the coldly beautiful warrior before him. 

“I’d like a farewell too.” Her Majesty said. 

“....of course, my lady.” Izayoi replied after some hesitation. 

The Inu no Taisho felt his impatience rise. His second empress’s courtesy was remarkable and maddeningly insensate at times but he knew she was very keen on ensuring peaceful relations between the three of them. After the tea incident, relations between the emperor and his first empress had completely broken down into a cold war that divided the palace into dangerous factions. It seemed no one had any interest in lessening hostilities other than ensuring they would come out on the winning side. 

Going over to the empress, Izayoi swept her low curtsy and Her Majesty bade her to rise but not before reaching down to whisper a few words in her fellow consort’s ear.

“Everything I’ve done and will ever do, was for your own good.” She said and as Izayoi looked into the empress’s beautiful golden eyes, she really thought Her Majesty was telling the truth. 

Then before the emperor could see or the court could react, the empress left her a soft kiss on her lips. 

  
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It was not even a week later that all hell finally broke loose. 

The empress returned staggering to the palace with her army and gave the news that the emperor had perished at the dragon’s hand. 

Upon hearing this, Izayoi’s entire universe crashed and burned. 

  
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She cannot get out of bed. 

She cannot do anything. 

Then again, she was never able to do anything in the first place, was she? 

Useless. Stupid. Weak. A simpering, self-absorbed fool with nothing to show for in terms of character. _Powerless._ She hadn’t been able to save her friends and she couldn’t rescue the Inu no Taisho from his fate. 

She cries, for that’s all she can do right now, and does not leave the emperor’s rooms as she holds her stomach where her child still lies asleep. Unaware that he no longer has a father. 

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_Knock. Knock. Knock._

“Izayoi, please let me in. Let me see you.” 

_Knock. Knock._

“I know you loved him but you cannot wallow in grief like this. You are an empress. You have your child to live for and a realm to rule. With me, now. We must work together. We must help each other and _both_ of our children. Neither of us can do this without the other.” 

The empress waited in expectant silence, outside the emperor’s old bedchamber. It was dark inside even though it was midday and she knew Izayoi was there, lying prostrate in depression and trying to block out the outside world. 

Her hand almost stayed when remorse involuntarily rose within her. _Was it worth it to have Izayoi suffer like this over a lie?_

The truth was that on the night when the battle with the dragon took place, the empress had deliberately withheld her troops from providing the emperor and his men the relief they needed as the dragon’s army crashed into them. 

She was supposed to have covered their flank and supported the air with volleys of arrows, none of which she provided when the appointed hour came. 

In the distance, she watched as Ryūkotsusei’s minions swept down and cut through the Inu no Taisho’s ranks. The line of white and gold receded into black, thinning out further and further until at last she could see that her mate was left entirely on his own against the dragon. They had fought magnificently, in both their humanoid forms and their real ones. The last she saw of them, a steel-backed dragon and a silver-maned dog, was in a thundering sky as their bodies were locked in ferocious struggle then plummeted straight down into the mountains. 

After that, everything had been a breeze. She had taken the palace with a lie and using Sesshomaru’s convenient presence, had secured the capital. All in all, a neat and tidy coup. 

Now _she_ would be the one people would answer to. It would be her prerogatives and initiatives they would follow. There would be no deferrals to the emperor, no more second places. She would be seated not on the side but front and center. 

As empress regnant.

Along with her beautiful, kind-hearted consort. 

“Izayoi.” The empress tried to soften her voice and sweeten her tone. “Let me help you.”

For a long while, she heard nothing and was about to give up to try again another day when to her immense satisfaction, she heard the screen doors slide open. 

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“...I want you to take as much time as you need. Know that I am always here for you, as you once promised for me. I am sorry to see you suffer but it won’t be like this forever.” 

“Thank you, Empress.” 

“Not at all, my dearest.” 

“I am sorry too.” 

“For what?” 

“For misjudging you. Tōga used to say...he often told me to be careful and not to trust you.” 

“Why?” 

“Because he thought you were in love with me and believed you would do anything to make me yours.” 

“Ah, but that’s the bind, my empress. He was, in fact, telling the truth. I _am_ in love with you and I _would_ do anything for you.”

  
  
  
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“... _what have you done?_ ” 

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“I secured our future, Izayoi. Yours and mine. We can finally be together as we were meant to be.” 

  
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A lance of fire seemed to strike Izayoi in the chest. 

Unable to breathe, she let go of the empress’s hands which she had held so warmly only a moment ago and backed away. Horror rose up with such tangible strength, she thought would retch. Distraught and gasping in extreme distress, she clutched her stomach as she struggled to not fall on her knees. 

“How could you— _how—could—you?_ ” She cried out. 

“You must let me explain _—”_

_“What is there to explain?_ ” Izayoi put her hands in her hair as she spiraled into a breakdown. The Inu no Taisho was dead. Dead, murdered by his empress, and worse, _she_ might have been responsible. Had he fallen under an onslaught of arrows or had he been stabbed? Had he been in terrible pain? She had seen men die in war before and felt her heart burn at the thought her beloved’s life had ended in such cruel violence. She clamped her hand against her mouth to keep from screaming. 

“As long as the emperor lived,” the empress’s voice was cold, “I couldn’t be my own person and neither could you. He would never have let me have you.” 

“You killed him.” Izayoi’s eyes were burning. “Why, why would you do that?! _Why?_ ” 

Tears streamed down her face and no longer having any strength to stand upright, she fell, sobbing hysterically. 

Immediately, the empress knelt down and tried to support Izayoi from collapsing any further by grasping her by the shoulders. 

“I had to do what needed to be done.” The empress said firmly. “I couldn’t tolerate his arrogance any longer. For years, centuries, he simply took from me and never gave anything back. That’s how men are. Their impulse to dominate and ruin everything in their path. Even those that they love. But _I’m_ different. I can do better than he ever could. I could love you so much more than he did.” 

“ _I cannot love you in the way that I loved him._ ” Izayoi burst out. 

“You will learn. You can.” 

“It doesn’t work like that!” Izayoi was aghast. “You...you remind me of him. My first husband.” 

The empress paused, confused. This was the first she had ever heard Izayoi speak of her former life, a past that held little interest for her and one which had been shrouded in mystery. 

“Takemaru.” Izayoi’s entire body trembled as she spoke aloud the name she had wanted to erase from existence. “He married me when I was eighteen. He was kind, at first, even though I didn’t feel anything for him. When the war broke out, he went to defend the former Fujiwara emperor and lost. To you and the Inu no Taisho’s armies. He was disgraced by the defeat and even more so because I couldn’t give him a son.”

She stared at the floor, lost in traumatic remembrance. 

“That night, he had just come home from the warfront and wasn’t himself. He tried to force himself on me. I panicked and ran away but he came after me...setting fires as he went around the house.” All the color drained from Izayoi’s face. “The last thing I remember is hiding with my friends, trying to get away from him and the flames. Then we all woke up to find ourselves at the palace.” 

“I am not like him!” The empress vehemently denied. 

“You were both driven mad by what you never had.” Izayoi covered her face with her hands. 

The empress looked at her with a stricken expression. 

“No,” the empress’s voice had gone faint and in desperation, she rested her forehead against Izayoi’s and tried to get her to see her face again. “No, dearest Izayoi, it is not the same. You and I are different. I loved you the moment I saw you and intended on having you since then. Now that the emperor is gone, I can give you all the encouragement and freedom to grow into your crown. You are an empress and must act like one. You can be a mother, ruler, and lover. You can have it all and more.”

She kissed Izayoi’s cold brow and held her in her arms as she would to a child. 

“My dearest,” the empress whispered, “my one love.” 

She closed her eyes and breathed Izayoi’s scent in, unable and unwilling to see for what this really was. Her seizing of the chrysanthemum throne in cunning deception and betrayal showed a severe, deliberate lack of decency that was abhorrent to behold. That she sundered Izayoi from the Inu no Taisho and made her child fatherless in order to claim monopoly on her was as stunningly ruthless as it was cruel. 

Yet in the empress’s view, all these acts were not borne out of malice but political necessity and yes, love. 

Bright, burning love like a star caged within the empress’s very being. 

She saw Izayoi’s eyes open slowly, her dark irises glistening with tears but in that instant, she sensed a shadow coming fast from behind her. 

Shooting up to her feet and whirling around, the empress saw the Inu no Taisho rapidly striding towards her, a bloodstained ghost in ashen armor with Tessaiga held out. Izayoi’s mouth opened in a scream of surprise but the empress was unmoved, too horrified to register whether or not this was real. 

But it was. 

How could it be…? She had left him for dead on the battle plain. The dragon was supposed to have killed him...

Seizing advantage of the empress’s shock, the emperor’s hand lashed out to hit her across the face. The air turned thick and raw with welts as he struck her with unrestrained force. Blinded by pain, the empress stumbled back, but not before he swung Tessaiga towards her. 

Swiftly, she moved to avoid it, barely missing it by an inch before swiping her poisoned claws across his unguarded middle. He let out a roar and momentarily distracted, she blitzed around him to steal So’unga from his back. Taking it from his sheath with ease, their blades met in a dangerous cross as they stood apart from each other in deadly seriousness. 

Then they fought. 

Their blows were savage, neither giving the other a fraction of a second for retreat. Steel cracked against steel as the empress brought down So’unga again and again in a relentless offensive while the Inu no Taisho deflected each one in furious parry. 

Izayoi was still on her knees, watching them in motionless despair and horror, heartily sick with dread. 

They were trying to kill each other and she knew that eventually, very soon in fact, one of them was going to succeed. 

Suddenly, the Inu no Taisho’s claws came right at the empress and slashed them over her chest. She let out a howl and the next instant smashed her fist into the side of his face, knocking his head backwards. Eyes red and fangs out, she held So’unga’s grip with both hands and aimed for a killstrike. 

_“No!”_ Izayoi cried, rising from her place and running towards the fray to stop them both. “No, no!”

The empress struck. 

And then screamed. 

As did the emperor. 

They ran forward, catching Izayoi in their arms as blood spurted from her lips and her pregnant body fell in a heap of red spatter on the marble floor. 

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The next several hours were singular, excruciating torture. 

The palace was thrown into uproar and frenzy as a small legion of physicians and nurses raced over to the emperor’s pavilions where His Majesty was discovered to be not only alive and having miraculously survived his battle with Ryūkotsusei. Adding to their astonishment, he ordered them to attend the second empress who had been fatally struck by So’unga. Apparently, if the rumor was to be believed, by the first empress’s hand. 

At first, the emperor was willing to let her go from his arms so she could be tended to by the doctors. They crowded around her on the emperor’s bed, frantically trying to staunch the bleeding and close up her grievous injury. It was no use. The wound was too deep and she had lost too much blood. She was dying, and if the baby was to be saved, it had to be delivered now. The earlier trauma had brought on her labor pains anyway. 

The imperial physicians were deeply somber as they laid out their conclusion to His Majesty and told him what had to be done. They knew the emperor was a reasonable man, even more so than the empress. They trusted, wrongly, that as much His Majesty loved Izayoi, he knew when to recognize a lost cause and understand the limitations as well as the folly of continuing to fight for it. 

When they finished telling him his second empress did not have much longer on this earth, he sliced his claws into the nearest physician he could get a hold of and threw the bloodied body back at his terrified colleagues. 

_“You will save her life.”_ His wrath knew no bounds. 

“Majesty, we cannot do the impossible!” One of the doctors quailed before him. “The only thing we can do is save your child.” 

“YOU WILL SAVE BOTH OF THEM!” He roared. “DO IT!” 

He would have killed them all from where they stood had it not been for the soft, weak voice that called for him. 

“Tōga…”

At the sound, the Inu no Taisho rushed over to the bedside. Lifting Izayoi into his arms from the sickbed, he looked down at her pale, gaunt face. 

In the haze of pain, Izayoi could barely discern the words being spoken around her. Voices were blurring into one another, octaves lowered in disquiet and sopranos heightened by fear. Her back was aching. Her shoulders were strained from being propped upright and her brow was drenched in sweat. She gripped on what felt like a strong hand but her hold was slackening with each minute dragging on. She wanted to sleep but the voices wouldn’t let her rest. If only she could lay down and just close her eyes for a minute….

_Stay with me._

“You came back.” Izayoi panted, almost wanting to smile. Maybe this was a dream. Perhaps she had died already and was looking at a shade from the netherworld. Shadows moved around her in a dance of cautionary yet urgent moves. 

_Please hold on for me. For me._

“Tōga,” she whispered and in answering her, she felt his fingers reach out to brush her cheek in a comforting gesture. “Tōga, it hurts, please make it stop. _Please_.” 

“Izayoi.” She heard him say and sensed him turning away so he could speak to what looked like shadowed figures. “Give the empress something for the pain.” 

Restless, Izayoi shifted in the hold she was in. Her sight cleared for a moment. She was in bed, partially supported by the emperor’s arms and could see his face outlined in light. 

Some of the blinds had been pulled down and she could smell camphor in the room. There were white-robed nurses busying themselves with bundles of clean linen and basins of water. An empty bassinet stood waiting by the bedside. Her cotton shift had plastered itself to her skin and was stretched against her heavily pregnant belly. Her undergarments had been removed and when she looked down, she could see enormous red puddles on the sheets. 

_Heaven help me,_ Izayoi couldn’t believe what she was seeing. 

A strong contraction overtook her, causing her back to arch forward as she instinctively bore down. Catching her before she fell too far, the Inu no Taisho bade her to lean against him. Resting his chin atop her head, he gripped her to him, wanting her to use his strength and steadiness to endure. She clung on, weak and desperate. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she pressed her mouth against his collarbone in speechless, breathless agony. 

“ _It hurts_ ,” Izayoi gasped in between breaths. 

“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’ll be over soon.” the emperor frantically stroked her hair. “Izayoi, you have to push again when you’re ready. The baby’s heartbeat is getting lower every minute.” 

_The baby._

Her head was spinning and it seemed there was not enough air to breathe. Everything was getting darker and she wanted nothing more than to fall into oblivion. There, was bliss. There, was freedom. But instead of giving in, she fought, pushing with all she had and her desire to save her child. Even as she did so, she lost more blood and threw the Inu no Taisho ever closer to maddening despair. The sheets turned black as rivers of red ran down from her back where the sword had initially cut in. 

The next contraction came with surprising speed and within a few minutes, as Izayoi lay in anguish with the emperor holding her in his arms, their baby was born. 

A healthy, beautiful boy with silver hair and bright gold eyes. His tiny face screwed up as he took his first cry and was immediately swept up in awaiting blankets by nurses. 

“Let me hold him.” Izayoi weakly outstretched her hand as they carried the baby away to be washed. “Let me see him, please…” 

When they brought the infant to the couple, Izayoi could barely grasp on due to her rapidly fading strength so the Inu no Taisho did it for her. Getting into the bloodied bed, he held Izayoi close then placed their son in between them so she could look at and touch him. 

For a few precious minutes, the only time they would have left in the world, they were together. In holy silence, they absorbed every feature on their baby and noted each detail in mesmerized admiration over what they made. 

“He’s so lovely.” Izayoi murmured as she held his little fist between her fingers. 

The emperor gazed down at his newborn son and was agonized to see that the child not only was lovely as Izayoi had said but looked so much like his mother. Who was dying now, at this very moment and could never be brought back. He was exhausted, drained from his fight with the dragon and his first empress, which only made his temper even more savage. There was nothing he could do for Izayoi. Nothing he could provide to alleviate her suffering or save her. 

A life could only be brought back by Tenseiga once. 

Just once. 

And he had already used it, thoughtlessly and inadvertently. 

“My beautiful boy.” Izayoi smiled and with heartbreaking tenderness, she kissed the baby’s cheek with her blood stained lips and tried to get her look of him as much as she could. Then she raised her eyes to the emperor. 

“...I thought you were…” She couldn’t even say it and as she began to cry, he reached over to press his lips on her damp forehead. 

“Please,” he heard her beg softly, “protect our son. Cherish him as you have cherished me.”

“Don’t talk like this.” The Inu no Taisho’s throat tightened. _Not here. You can’t die here._

With a trembling hand, Izayoi reached across to gently brush her fingertips in his hair. “Tōga, don’t blame the empress.” 

If he hadn’t been looking at her, he would have thought he had misheard. Where there was cutting sorrow, it was replaced by whote-hot rage that seared into his bones and turned his heart inside out in flames. He couldn’t even speak. 

“I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life in resentment and hate.” She whispered. “That is no way to live...which is why I am asking this of you. Even though she wronged us both, forgive her. Spare her life. She didn’t know what she was doing.” 

“You’re tearing me apart.” The Inu no Taisho’s eyes were wild with pain as his shoulders slackened from the weight of her last request. “Why must I stay my hand? She _deserves_ to die.” 

“Her death will not balance mine out. It will only blight you forever and leave your son without his mother.” 

“Then what about _ours_?” His voice was breaking now and suddenly turned into a violent shout when he saw Izayoi’s eyes fluttering to a close. 

Almost immediately, one of the nurses snatched the baby prince away from his parents as the emperor enfolded his second empress’s frail body close to his chest. 

Yelling at everyone to leave, the staff and all the household servants retreated out of the rooms, as if scalded by His Majesty’s command. 

For what felt like a long while, he did not release her, clasping her into his arms and unable to look into her face because he was terrified of finding her dead. Her long dark hair tumbled across his forearms as her head fell back with little resistance. Blood was running down from her mouth and her nightgown as his hands ran from her face to her body. He could still feel her heart wildly bouncing against her chest, a last frantic sign of life, but she was cold and unresponsive to his touch. 

“ _I love you_ ,” he breathed against her cheek, “I love you. I will always be in love with you. Which is why you _have_ to live. We can be with our son. We can be happy, all of us, together. So you can’t die, Izayoi....” 

He pressed his lips against her icy ones as he tried to will life back into her. He had given up on faith long ago but if the gods could hear him now….if the heavens could grant him this prayer…he would do anything in return if they would only let her survive. 

He heard her sigh against his neck and with the last bit of breath left in her, she held his cheek in the palm of her hand. 

“I am sorry. I am sorry for doing this to you. _For not protecting you._ Forgive me, forgive me.” He lowered his head in unbearable shame even as her fingers gently brushed his tears aside. 

Then quietly…

...gently….

….softly…

her hand fell away. 

  
  
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Broken, the Inu no Taisho gathered Izayoi into his arms and screamed like a wounded animal. 

  
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Outside the locked and guarded doors of the emperor’s compound, the first empress clawed at the great oaken gateway that stood in her way between the woman she loved. 

“DAMN YOU, TŌGA, LET ME IN! YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME!” She roared as she pounded her fists at the silent panels even as the flesh on her hands broke apart from the force. Bleeding, hysterical, and completely disheveled, she looked more like a madwoman than the first lady of the land. 

For hours, she had waited in total agony, wringing her hands at being kept away from Izayoi and not knowing what was happening. She hoped—and it was a pathetic one, she knew that—that somehow Izayoi would make it. When she heard the distinctive cries of a newborn, she was relieved about the baby and thought perhaps it meant the mother was well. 

But as the minutes dragged on in icy silence, she started to fear the worst and that’s when she heard it. 

The screaming. 

Her mate was screaming. 

Then all sense and restraint became lost to her. 

“LET—ME—IN!“ The empress howled, tearing away at the doors that would not open. “ _Let me in. Let me see her...let me...let me say I’m sorry…”_

Crying aloud, she sank to her knees, dragging blood across the panes. 

Izayoi was dead. The one woman she wanted. 

And she had taken her away...

Pulling her legs to her chest, her shoulders shook as she huddled into her own arms and collapsed in wretched sobs. 

  
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The second empress’s funeral took place on a cold, grey day upon the shores of a beach where her natal home had once stood. 

The entire court went into mourning with all the festivities for the winter holidays and new year being cancelled. The baby prince, who had been named Inuyasha, was ensconced in the royal nursery being none the wiser of the sadness around him. Both the emperor and his first empress went into seclusion, refusing to come out of their rooms, even after the cremation was over. 

The advisers were now convinced that the emperor had gone completely insane. It took them an extraordinary long time to persuade His Majesty to allow for the second empress to be burned and they had to remind him it was the human custom to transform the bodies of their dead into clouds of smoke so they could reach paradise. 

When he finally relented, he watched in mute grief as Izayoi’s former attendants stripped her bare and washed away all the blood from her body. They wrapped each curve of bone in white, guiding every limb to a position of stately grace and threading incandescent blooms through her hair. Once they smoothed away the last creases of her gown, fixed the stray threads, they stepped back so he could see. 

Biting back a scream, he forced himself to look. 

What he saw was a picture of singular devastation and cruelty. Izayoi had been reduced into a small, fragile pale thing of evanescent beauty. The silver-pearl crown, a gift he had originally intended to surprise her with on her birthday, lay next to her unworn. He had tried to make her into an empress but the attempt resulted in producing only a weak, colorless shadow of her former self. This was not the woman he had once loved; it was a corpse clothed in false regality. 

“.....get out.” 

When the last of the attendants had gone, he approached closer and felt his knees give way when he reached the beir. He clutched her hand and brought it to his face, crushing the cold palm against his cheek as the perfume of dying flowers surrounded him. The guilt within him felt….vile. Everything that led to this ghastly outcome was down to him. She was at his side but only in death, unmoved by his pleas and now indifferent to the passage of time. She would never speak, listen, know, love, forgive, or care. Then just as he felt the anger consumed him again, his hand had balled into a fist and slammed against the bier, cracking the marble underneath as his screams rented through the air. 

He kept vigil like that for what seemed to be an eternity. 

He gave no instructions other than he was to be left alone and above all else, the first empress was not to go anywhere near his pavilions. 

The first empress didn’t listen anyway and demanded, through tear-filled rages and shouting, to be allowed to see Izayoi’s body. 

It wasn’t until the day of the cremation itself that the emperor finally allowed this and when he did, he made sure that the empress would never forget it. 

As they stood apart from each other on the beach, in white-and-gold splendor, they both looked to the pyre where Izayoi lay. A veil had been draped over her entire form, softening out her face in ethereal transparency. Only a handful of funerary attendants, all dressed in black, had been allowed at the funeral and after some time had passed, one of them respectfully bowed before the imperial couple before handing them a burning arrow. 

For a long moment, neither of them moved until finally, the emperor reached over, ashen-faced, and took the offending weapon in his hand. Without warning, he seized the first empress by her wrist then dragged her forward as he too walked to where Izayoi lay. 

“No...no…” the empress fought to be released but the Inu no Taisho wouldn’t let her go. 

“ _You did this._ ” His hate-filled voice hissed in her ear. “And I’ll be damned if I don’t have you watch the consequences of your selfishness.” 

“ _I loved her._ ” The empress was distraught. 

“So did I.” 

“I didn’t mean to hurt her...it was you I wanted dead. Not her. Never her.” The empress shook her head. "I don't understand…I still don't…why did she throw herself in between us like that…why?" 

"Because she was trying to do the right thing." He gritted out. "She didn't want either of us dead." 

Enraged, he passed the shaft of the lit arrow into her hand, arresting the grip with his own. Together, emperor and empress stepped up to the pyre and threw it into its nest of wooden beams. Backing away, they watched in silence and overwhelming despair as the flames spread then shot up, consuming Izayoi. 

The empress wanted to look away but in cruel force, he wrenched her to him and held her fast so that she couldn’t even turn. 

“I want you to remember this.” He whispered to her as the fire danced before his eyes and took Izayoi away from this world. “When you think about her, I want this to be the only image you have in your mind. You don’t get to remember her as she was or what she would have been. Because you were the one who took that away. From me. From Inuyasha. Even from yourself.” 

When the flames reached Izayoi’s lovely face, the empress gave a strangled cry. 

“She asked me to forgive you. To spare your life.” The Inu no Taisho leaned in close and wrapped his claws around his empress’s neck from behind. “So I will...but I won’t _ever_ let you forget why.” 

In disgust, he pushed her away, letting her fall on her knees before the pyre. 

The empress’s muffled cries did not move him as he watched her keen away her grief. 

As for him, he felt as though he was being crucified from within but he had found that strangely, stunningly, he found the will to survive. 

Even as his hands wanted nothing more than to strangle the life out of his first empress, even as his arms felt the ghost of Izayoi’s body in them, he knew he would make it. He could live with the absence and endure the ringing silence left in the wake of her death. His agony could be blotted out. Maybe he could sleep it away with his harem to numb himself or feed off the unsatiated vengeance for years to come. And by the gods, it was in limitless supply. The aching rage within him over losing Izayoi to eternity felt enough to consume entire worlds twice over. 

There was still an empire to govern and enemies to fight against. He had options. 

Someday, maybe, he himself would learn to forget _._

Izayoi would fade in time. Even now, he could hardly remember her smile or the way her eyes lit up at the sound of his voice. What was she but a pale, mortal ghost who would leave no impression upon him or his future? The deepest love had given way to the greatest grief. There was power in suffering but never, _never_ could he have imagined it to be like this. He didn’t need her grace to save him. He didn’t need to be redeemed. 

Or so, he told himself, in a weak attempt to relieve this anguish. 

To escape from the all-consuming fire that burned through him and gripped him with a pain that promised to go on forever. 

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_Finis_

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End file.
